Healthcare industry

On 26th May 2010, Viscofan BioEngineering announced that it has entered into a 2-year cooperation with the Department of Urology at the University Hospital of Tübingen. Under the terms of the agreement, the company’s “Collagen Cell Carrier” (CCC) will be evaluated in in vitro and pre-clinical models for its suitability as a scaffold for urothelial cells and subsequently as an urological implant. The goal of the cooperation is to enable the use of…

Press release - 22/02/2010

AgenoLab GmbH: Improved quality of life for patients with chronic wounds

Since its foundation three years ago, AgenoLab GmbH & Co. KG in Stuttgart has become a leading service provider in the area of life sciences and biotechnology. The company’s cell culture technology unit focuses on the preparation of cells that can largely eliminate the need for animal testing. In the area of regenerative medicine, AgenoLab GmbH concentrates on the growth of skin cells as transplants for patients suffering from burns and…

The World Health Organization is seeking innovative technologies, in particular medical devices that offer solutions to global health concerns in low- and middle-income countries. The deadline for submission of proposals is January the 31st 2010.

Press release - 08/09/2009

Angiogenesis as a key for tissue engineering

The German Research Foundation is to fund a research priority of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Freiburg University Medical Centre. Researchers around the world working in the area of regenerative medicine are all equally hopeful of generating tissue replacements using modern tissue engineering. The development of tissue cells on carrier materials seems quite promising. However, tissue-engineered implants are often rejected by patients…

Press release - 28/07/2009

New trachea made from human tissue

A team of doctors from the Schillerhöhe Hospital, which is part of the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, in cooperation with researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute of Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart, has developed a method that enables artificially produced autologous tissue to be implanted into patients with severe tracheal injuries. The method involves the cultivation of extensive parts of the human trachea and…

Article - 09/07/2009

Innovations for medical technology - the MicroMountains iNNOVATION fORUM

The second iNNOVATION fORUM for medical technology, held in Tuttlingen on June 23rd, once again enabled companies to find out about promising product ideas. The MicroMountains Network technology initiative could not have chosen a more suitable location than the city of Tuttlingen, well-known as a “world centre of medical technology”. As the biologisation of medical technology is becoming more and more common, researchers at the NMI in Reutlingen…

Article - 20/04/2009

Anita Ignatius makes biomaterials smart

Anita Ignatius is not interested in knowledge just for the sake of knowledge. “I have always been interested in the practical application of knowledge,” said the 45-year-old veterinarian. Highly theoretical courses she had to attend during her studies put an end to her dreams of opening her own practice after university. But this experience also had its advantages, because it helped her realise what she really wanted – namely doing research of…

Press release - 25/02/2009

EMEA holds first meeting of Committee for Advanced Therapies

On 15 and 16 January the European Medicines Agency held the first meeting of the new Committee for Advanced Therapies. The CAT is a multidisciplinary committee gathering together some of the best available experts in Europe to assess the quality safety and efficacy of advanced therapy medicinal products and to follow scientific developments in the field.

Article - 17/02/2009

Tissue engineering companies and EU obstacles

With the new regulation on advanced therapy medicinal products the European Union has tried to establish legal certainty with regard to gene therapy somatic cell therapy and tissue engineering products. However Dr. Heinz W. Joseph of TETEC AG is sure that the new guidelines will lead to problems for small and medium-sized companies.

Article - 14/01/2009

Strict requirements for the market approval of tissue engineering products

New regulations for the marketing approval of advanced therapy medicinal products have applied in the EU since December 2008. Prof. Sabine Kloth from TÜV SÜD Product Service GmbH is an expert in materials of animal origin and has been closely following the formulation of the ATMP Regulation.

A fully automated process is set to improve the production of artificial tissue medical scientists can perform transplants with skin produced in the laboratory. This tissue is also suitable for testing chemicals at a low cost without requiring animal experiments.

In principle human tracheas and porcine small intestines do not have much in common. However both have a tube-like structure. This was the basis for Dr. Thorsten Walles extraordinary idea. In collaboration with Professor Dr. Heike Mertsching he is working on the development of methods for turning the intestines into bioartificial trachea substitutes.

The NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute in Reutlingen organised its biannual MEA conference from 8 to 11 July 2008. More than 200 developers and microelectrode array users from 18 countries came together in Reutlingen to present their latest developments and results.

The Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences has been successful in the states Innovative Projects Cooperative Projects 2007 programme. Two research projects will receive funding totalling almost 225000 euros.

The Centre for Regenerative Biology and Medicine ZRM in Tübingen has joined forces with Naturin GmbH based in Weinheim. The partners plan to develop new carrier materials on the basis of collagen which improve cell cultures and medical implants.

Dossier - 01/02/2008

Glycobiotechnology - sugar research is picking up speed

Alongside DNA and proteins sugar structures play an important role in cellular transport and communication processes. They are also part of the molecular control and regulation machinery making them of particular interest to biotechnologists. The pharmaceutical industry as well as the food sector and material sciences have realised the potential of sugar structures.