Eterna Regeneratives raises seed round led by Hoxton Ventures and The Venture Collective
This article covers Eterna Regeneratives, a King's College London spin-out biotech startup, which has raised a seed funding round led by Hoxton Ventures and The Venture Collective to advance a keratin-based biomaterial from lab proof of concept toward commercial products for enamel repair and bone regeneration. The funding will support product development and partnerships targeting the £32bn global oral care market and potential applications in bone regeneration.
Eterna Regeneratives, a King's College London spin-out biotech startup, has raised a seed funding round led by Hoxton Ventures and The Venture Collective to advance a keratin-based biomaterial from lab proof of concept toward commercial products aimed at enamel repair and bone regeneration. The funding will support product development and partnerships targeting the £32bn ($43bn) global oral care market.
Why it matters
Tooth enamel does not regenerate, so damage from cavities, abrasion or erosion typically requires restorative work such as resin fillings, which replace rather than rebuild enamel and have a finite lifespan. Eterna’s approach aims to change that by encouraging new mineral growth at the site of damage, potentially shifting oral care from managing enamel loss to repairing it. If the keratin material can be delivered cheaply and at scale — the company says its raw material is inexpensive — it could reduce repeat treatments and long-term costs for patients.
The technology also has a second application in bone regeneration, where current clinical practice often relies on collagen membranes and passive healing. Early tests suggest the same platform could promote stronger bone regrowth, opening a broader route to clinical and commercial use.
Inside the product
Eterna’s patented material uses keratin extracted from sheep’s wool as a scaffold to guide mineral deposition. In laboratory experiments on extracted teeth, the company reports formation of an enamel-like layer directly on the tooth surface, with treated samples regaining hardness and mechanical strength close to healthy enamel. The material reportedly reduced abrasion and showed activity against decay in vitro.
The company says the keratin can be formulated for inclusion in consumer products such as toothpaste, allowing deployment through existing distribution channels rather than requiring entirely new devices. Work is also underway on further intellectual property for bone-regeneration applications.
Eterna was co-founded in 2024 by Khaled Eissa and Dr Sherif Elsharkawy. Research by Dr Elsharkawy and his PhD student Dr Sara Gamea attracted international coverage last year from outlets including the BBC, the Washington Post and Newsweek. The team has moved into lab space in Canary Wharf and is expanding its research and commercial functions while building relationships with oral-care companies, professional partners and consumer-health groups.
Who are the investors?
The seed round was led by Hoxton Ventures and The Venture Collective. Both firms provided public commentary explaining their rationale for backing the company.
In the announcement, Hussein Kanji, Partner at Hoxton Ventures, said:
Eterna is the kind of company we like to back early: powerful, defensible science with a capital-efficient route to market. Its technology has the potential to transform oral care from managing enamel loss to actually repairing it, while opening the door to broader applications in tissue and bone regeneration. Khaled and Sherif are the right scientific team to bring this from the lab and to global scale.
In the announcement, Gina Shekerdemian, Founding Partner at The Venture Collective, said:
Eterna is looking beyond basic healing to achieve complete tissue restoration. For too long, patients have had to settle for treatments that manage damage rather than repair it. Eterna is revolutionizing this standard of care, harnessing its patented keratin technology to help the body regenerate itself more fully than existing options allow.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Khaled Eissa, Co-founder & CEO at Eterna Regeneratives, said:
The only way to truly heal the human body is to help it heal itself. We wanted to create a product that is readily available, scalable and has the potential to deliver long-term results.
In the announcement, Sherif Elsharkawy, Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer at Eterna Regeneratives, said:
This investment lets us move from lab-based proof of concept to real-world products at pace. It is a validation of years of research, and a step change in how quickly we can bring this technology to patients.
The bigger picture
Eterna’s seed raise is another example of UK university spin-outs attempting to translate academic IP into commercially viable biomaterials. The company’s focus on embedding a regenerative ingredient into existing oral-care products aims to reduce the regulatory and distribution friction that often slows medical-device adoption.
The deal may also signal continuing appetite among biotech investors for translational platforms that offer multiple end markets — here oral care and orthopaedics — and a capital-efficient route to early revenue. For the UK and Europe, successful development and commercial partnership agreements would strengthen the case for more university-derived biotech to reach customers without lengthy device-only pathways.
The outcome will depend on clinical translation, regulatory approvals and the ability to integrate with established oral-care brands, but the funding gives Eterna the resources to take the next steps from bench to market.
They've invested in Eterna Regeneratives
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