The RegeneratOR Test Bed was developed to advance the regenerative medicine field and create an economic development engine in our region that could produce a rippled effect of discovery. Through the combined resources of Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) and RegenMed Development Organization (ReMDO), the Test Bed helps accelerate growth for innovative and emerging technologies by providing access to state-of-the-art biomanufacturing equipment, industry expertise and talent to support novel prototyping and commercial product development.
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So, the question was how can we innovate in the technology at the same time that we innovate with manufacturing? And the test bed is an example of how we can accomplish that. It's a resource where companies can come in and provide equipment for free at this test bed, and we offer the space for free so that startup companies, emerging companies, and established companies looking for their next product in the field can use this test bed and create their next prototype for free. And in doing so, the companies that have invested millions of dollars providing the equipment, they want to get into the business of creating manufacturing technologies, and they have that one-to-one interaction with the end user so they can improve their product. So, it's really a win-win. It's a win for the companies that are creating the manufacturing equipment. It's a win for the end users, which are the startups and established companies that need to manufacture the product. And it's really a win for the patient because we can, then, create technologies that are cheaper to make, but can be scaled up easier and more precise.
A number of regenerative medicine start-ups and established companies already operate within the Regenerative Medicine Hub (RegenMed Hub) and the region, offering expansive resources for entrepreneurs and life science professionals. Learn more about the RegenMed Hub, an ecosystem that brings together and draws upon the resources and talent available through the Innovation Quarter, and includes regenerative medicine focused entities dedicated to advancing the field nationwide.
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“Many of these companies are dedicated to a broad range of technologies, such as 3D printing, and cell and tissue therapies. Additionally, there are also businesses supporting the field in areas such as the production of reagents and diagnostics. We believe this region has a lot to offer in terms of helping these companies be successful, and, at the same time, we can advance the regenerative medicine field nationally.” - Anthony Atala, MD, director of WFIRM. |
WFIRM is recognized as an international leader in translating scientific discovery into clinical therapies. Physicians and scientists at WFIRM were the first in the world to engineer laboratory-grown organs that were successfully implanted into humans. Today, this interdisciplinary team that numbers about 400 is working to engineer more than 40 different replacement tissues and organs, and to develop healing cell therapies – all with the goal to cure, rather than merely treat, disease.