Omnio, a Umeå-based BioTech startup, has raised an oversubscribed €2.9 million round from existing investors and shareholders to advance its plasminogen-based therapy for hard-to-heal chronic wounds toward clinical studies.
This funding follows a €4.3 million financing round completed in spring 2025 to complete its GMP manufacturing process and move toward clinical trials. The company notes that the development has progressed according to plan since this round.
“This financing demonstrates our continuous progress and strong confidence from our current investors. Their support allows us to continue the development and puts us in a stronger position ahead of our next financing round for clinical studies,” said Felipe Velasquez, CEO of Omnio.
Founded on research by Professor Tor Ny at Umeå University (also head of R&D at Omnio), Omnio is developing plasminogen-based therapies for chronic wounds and related conditions. The company states that it is advancing a biologic treatment designed to address the underlying biology of impaired wound healing.
Its lead indication is diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), a condition in which wounds can be difficult to heal, with limited effective treatment options. According to the company, more than half a billion people worldwide live with diabetes, and up to one-third will develop a foot ulcer during their lifetime.
“These wounds can become chronic and devastating — severely impacting mobility, quality of life and productivity, while putting patients at risk of amputation. For healthcare systems, the burden is equally significant, with advanced-stage diabetic foot ulcers costing an estimated €50,000 per wound episode,” the company mentioned in the press release.
At the core of Omnio’s therapy is plasminogen, which is a natural protein with pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties that helps the body clear damaged tissue, fight infection, and regenerate skin. In people with chronic wounds, that healing process stalls. Omnio claims to restart it.
Its mission is to help people with hard-to-heal diabetic foot ulcers regain mobility and avoid amputation. Its lead drug candidate is a recombinant form of plasminogen.
The Swedish startup notes that it has established its master cell bank and is now scaling up manufacturing in preparation for a GMP batch that will be used in toxicology studies. These studies are required before submitting applications to begin clinical trials. The clinical study programme will begin with a Phase I/IIa safety and early-efficacy study in patients with diabetic foot ulcers.
“Our ambition is to move into patient studies during 2027. We are already evaluating CROs, investigators and trial countries across Europe to support the launch of the clinical programme,” added Velasquez.
While diabetic foot ulcers remain the company’s primary focus, it sees potential applications for its plasminogen platform across a broader range of chronic wound conditions, including venous leg ulcers (VLU), burns, tympanic membrane perforations, infection, and periodontitis.
Omnio plans to open its next financing round in Q1 2027 to fund clinical development through first efficacy data. “We are structuring the next financing round around key development milestones as we prepare to enter clinical studies,” said Velasquez.
“The wound healing market is mostly a medical devices market, but nothing has really moved the needle in hard-to-heal wounds. We are not developing another medical device. We are developing a biologic therapy that addresses the biology of wound healing and the root cause of why these wounds stay open,” he stated.
