Tekes has allocated three million euros to financing a project by the Tampere-based Regea Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the goal of which is to use stem cells in tissue-related technological applications.
“Stem cell research offers promising opportunities to develop new forms of cellular therapy for diseases formerly difficult to treat. Because of their important potential applications, stem cells have become a key focus of interest in biotechnology,” says Senior Technology Advisor Teppo Tuomikoski.
Regea is becoming a cutting-edge research centre for Tampere, with its strong points in biomaterial expertise, a combination of cellular biology and clinical skills, and with a particular strength in stem cell research. With the help of the new and challenging technologies being developed at Regea, it will be possible to develop entirely new materials and methods for tissue repair. It is believe that the work envisaged will lead to the development and commercialisation of important new products and treatments.
According to Tuomikoski, the work planned at Regea fits in well with Tekes’ new strategy. Tekes sees the great potential of Regea’s expertise, tissue technology and stem cells as of such significance that it has made an exceptionally major contribution to the field, Tuomikoski points out.
The financing will underpin Regea’s status as a nationwide centre of tissue technology
Tekes’ funding in Regea’s operations is focused on work aimed at developing cell culturing expertise and technology, an application aimed at treating injuries to nerve tissue, and the use of stem cells in treating cranial damage.
At present, stem cell lines cultivated around the world are available only for research or animal testing. The working conditions at the Regea Institute for Regenerative Medicine and its GMP-standard laboratory and clean room facilities are of global excellence and they were designed specifically for cultivating stem cell lines suited for human cell transplants. The aim of the first stage of the project is to optimise the growing conditions for stem cells so that the cell lines cultivated will meet GMP requirements and be suited to treating human patients.
In further stages of the project, the aim is to differentiate embryonic stem cells into nerve cells and others, and to combine them with different types of biomaterials. It is hoped this will lead to the development of treatments for diseases of the nervous system and skeletal deficiency conditions. Strong excellence in biomaterials has been developed in Tampere, and Regea performs development of biomaterials in close collaboration with local biomaterial companies and Tampere University of Technology’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering.