Biotech bonanza.

• Position: TRIANGLE REGION

There are 4,000 tubes in the human body, and leaders of Humacyte say they'll be able to re-create any of them. The Morrisville-based company in October raised $150 million, which CEO Carrie Cox calls one of the biotech industry's largest venture investments. Contributors include Russian billionaire Gavril Yushvaev and Brady Dougan, the former CEO of Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse, who has served on Humacyte's board for the last 10 years. The 51-employee company raised $12 million in 2010.

In 2004, former Duke University professor Laura Niklason started Humacyte to create products based on human tissue that can be used in regenerative medicine and vascular surgery. She now teaches at Yale, but the company stayed in North Carolina. Kathleen Sebelius, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, joined its board in September.

The money will help fund clinical trials for the company's flagship product, Humacyl, which can be used to treat patients with...