Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum in Winston-Salem

A spray-on skin product and an injectable cell therapy for heart attack patients are among 17 regenerative medicine technologies that will be showcased during the Translational Regenerative Medicine Forum, set for April 6-8 in Winston-Salem.

Representatives from 17 startup biotech companies have been selected to present their technologies to a group of venture capitalists and companies including DeNovo Ventures, Excel Venture Management, InterSouth Partners, Livingston Securities, Proteus Ventures, and Quaker BioVentures.

The forum is an annual event to convene the regenerative medicine community to focus on fulfilling the promise of regenerative medicine, including best practices and business models. Keynote speakers and panelists will discuss scientific and clinical advances, trial design, venture funding and obtaining regulatory approval.

The forum is open to executives from biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, and regenerative medicine companies; patient advocacy groups and medical research foundations; institutional investors from private equity and venture capital firms; academic researchers, clinical researchers and physicians; and those interested in health care innovation and personalized medicine.

"The entire focus of the forum is translating the science of regenerative medicine to patients in a timely and cost-effective manner," said Anthony Atala, M.D., director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and a forum speaker. "The fact that so many promising technologies will be highlighted at the event attests to the promise of this field."

Companies selected to present their technologies are:

• ACell - extracellular matrix devices to repair and remodel damaged tissues and organs
• America Stem Cell Inc. - technologies to enhance and expand the therapeutic potential of stem cell transplants
• Articular Engineering - cells and tissue to repair articular cartilage and intervertebral disc disorders
• Arterion - artificial blood vessels
• Avita Medical - a cell harvesting, processing and delivery technology to treat skin defects using the patient's own cells in a regenerative process
• Bioheart - autologous cell therapies for the treatment of chronic, acute heart damage, and peripheral vascular disease
• Creative Bioreactor Designs Inc. - equipment and techniques to develop and deliver tissue-engineered products to the marketplace
• ISTO Technologies Inc. - biologic products to regenerate and restore damaged cartilage and bone
• Juventas Therapeutics - a therapy to recruit the body's own stem cells to damaged tissue. Potential applications include preventing cardiac cell death after heart attacks and in peripheral vascular disease and wound healing.
• KeraNetics - keratin-based biomaterial products for regenerative medicine and trauma care
• Kryosphere - a repository to ensure safe storage of research samples
• Ocular Systems Inc. - replacement corneal implants
• Pharminova - natural silk fibrin-based biomaterials
• Soft Tissue Regeneration - regeneration of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee.
• Southern Access Technology - durable heart valve devices
• Ventrix - injectable cell therapy to treat heart attack victims