PERFORMANCE
OF
COMPLETED
PROJECTS
STATUS REPORT
NUMBER 1
NIST SPECIAL PUBLICATION
950-1
Economic Assessment
Office
Advanced Technology Program
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899
William F. Long
Business Performance Research Associates, Inc.
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
March 1999
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Executive Summary
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 - Overview of Completed Projects
Characteristics of the Projects
Timeline of Expected ATP Project
Activities and Impacts
Gains in Technical Knowledge
Dissemination of New Knowledge
Commercialization of the New Technology
Broad-Based Economic Benefits
CHAPTER 2 - Biotechnology
Aastrom Biosciences,
Inc.
Aphios Corporation
Molecular Simulations, Inc.
Thermo Trilogy Corporation
Tissue Engineering, Inc.
CHAPTER 3 - Chemicals and Chemical Processing
BioTraces, Inc.
CHAPTER 4 - Discrete Manufacturing
Auto Body Consortium (Joint
Venture)
HelpMate Robotics, Inc.
PreAmp Consortium (Joint Venture)
Saginaw Machine Systems, Inc.
CHAPTER 5 - Electronics
Accuwave Corporation
AstroPower, Inc.
Cree Research, Inc.
Cynosure, Inc.
Diamond Semiconductor Group, LLC
FSI International, Inc.
Galileo Corporation
Hampshire Instruments, Inc. (Joint Venture)
Illinois Superconductor Corporation
Light Age, Inc.
Lucent Technologies, Inc.
Multi-Film Venture (Joint Venture)
Nonvolatile Electronics, Inc.
Spire Corporation
Thomas Electronics, Inc.
CHAPTER 6 - Energy and Environment
American Superconductor Corporation
Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company
Michigan Molecular Institute
CHAPTER 7 - Information, Computers, and Communications
Communication Intelligence Corporation #1
Communication Intelligence Corporation #2
Engineering Animation, Inc.
ETOM Technologies, Inc.
Mathematical Technologies, Inc.
Torrent Systems, Inc.
CHAPTER 8 - Materials
AlliedSignal, Inc.
Geltech Incorporated
IBM Corporation
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Development of New
Knowledge and Early Commercial Products and Processes
Appendix B: Terminated Projects
END NOTES
End Notes
Click here for PDF version of report.
Return to Main Page.
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Tissue
Engineering, Inc. (TE)
Prostheses Made of Biomaterials That Regenerate Body Parts
| F
rom its beginning, the field of bioengineering has focused on
providing the best artificial devices - hearing aids, artificial
limbs and other prostheses - to replace body parts that are
missing, broken or dysfunctional. This ATP project with Tissue
Engineering (TE), a biotechnology start-up company, takes bioengineering
far beyond artificial replacements to a technology that regenerates,
rather than replaces, lost or damaged tissues. Although this
claim sounds like science fiction, it is in fact quite real.
And it promises to produce real medical benefits in the very
near future. |
Technology to Regenerate
Lost or Damaged Body Parts
TE is pioneering
a new class of biomaterials called ADMAT (animal-derived extracellular
matrix). The idea behind the company's ATP project is to use ADMAT
materials in collagen-scaffold "prostheses" to replace damaged or
dysfunctional tissues and organs. The prostheses are designed to
provide templates that mobilize the body's own cells and induce
them to rebuild the lost tissue, gradually replacing the prosthesis
itself. Regeneration of body parts requires a biomaterial with a
structure, components and chemical signals that allow the body's
tissue cells to recognize, respond to and remodel the material without
rejecting it as foreign.
Collagen fiber and braided structures from collagen
fiber: (a) single collagen fiber, (b) 8-ply collagen fiber braid,
(c) 64-ply collagen fiber braid, (d) 512-ply collagen fiber braid.
Demand for ADMAT Materials
ADMAT materials
are derived from the by-products of land and marine animals processed
for food. The material can be spun into fibers and woven into fabrics
using techniques borrowed from the textile industry, or it can be
formed into foams, sheets and films. ADMAT can be used to enhance
collagen scaffolds for vascular grafts, ligaments, tendons, periodontal
tissue and similar reconstructions.
During the ATP
project, TE successfully developed techniques and procedures for
extracting and storing a mixture of collagens and for preserving
the desired characteristics of the extracellular matrix. The company
developed new materials for hosting the matrix and a process for
adding the matrix to collagen fibers in the course of spinning.
The demand for
products the company plans to offer clearly exists. The lag time,
however, between technology conception and market availability -
particularly for medical treatments - is long. Tissue-engineered
products face clinical trials and other regulatory hurdles, in addition
to technical and market-introduction barriers. The company is making
good progress in navigating these barriers in accord with its technical
and business plans.
Collagen fiber decorated with ADMAT microparticulates
via ATP-funded patented process.
Commercialization
is in progress. TE has placed periodontal prosthesis prototypes
with potential customers for testing. It has created other products
for research, testing and diagnostic applications. These activities
are not regulated, so commercialization can happen more speedily.
In addition, it has formed a venture with Wright Medical Technology
for commercialization of orthopedic applications. TE is also in
discussions with several other companies to commercialize other
applications, such as a line of skin and wound-healing products.
Large Potential Benefits
for Society
The eventual
successful commercial introduction of the ATP-funded technologies
will bring large health gains to patients with many forms of medical
problems, ranging from dental to cardiovascular. Procedures and
materials that would enable the regrowth of ligaments and cartilage
in knees and enable dental tissue to regenerate with a single surgery
- at costs lower than those offered by alternative medical approaches
today, and that one day may even facilitate organ regeneration -
would have great benefits for society.
These potential
benefits are likely to be huge because of the large number of patients
who could use these prostheses, the advantages the TE approach has
over currently available alternatives, and improvements in the ability
of patients to function as a result of using the new technology.
The ATP award is playing an important role in bringing these benefits
to society, because applications of the new technology are about
two years ahead of where they would have been without ATP funding.
A recent detailed
case study by the Research Triangle Institute estimated that TE's
ADMAT technology could be expected to generate about $33 billion
(in present value dollars) in net benefits for society in a single
medical application area: anterior cruciate ligament repair.
(3)
The study estimated
that about 100,000 patients per year with ligament damage would
be eligible for the new treatment, that the number using the Tissue
Engineering technology would start at 9,000 in the first year of
availability and grow to 72,000 ten years later, supplanting an
increasing percentage of alternative technologies currently in use.
The study incorporated estimated benefits from quality-of-life improvements,
using a "quality-adjusted-life-years" index value. It estimated
that about $15 billion of the expected benefits would be attributable
to ATP's accelerating the technology development by two years.
PROJECT::
To develop techniques and procedures for processing tissue,
extracting and storing collagen, and spinning and weaving collagen
fibers into fabrics and other forms suitable for human prostheses
that could induce the body's own cells to rebuild lost tissue
while gradually replacing the prosthesis.
Duration: 3/1/1993 - 2/28/1996
ATP number: 92-01-0133
FUNDING
(in thousands)::
| ATP |
$1,999 |
48% |
| Company |
2,128 |
52% |
| Total |
$4,127 |
|
ACCOMPLISHMENTS::
TE accomplished its technical goals. The company developed
procedures for processing a tissue-specific extracellular
matrix rich in cytokines (cell-generated proteins), extracting
and storing type I collagen (a material present in all tissues),
and spinning collagen into fibers that can be woven into prosthetic
fabrics. The company:
- received two
patents for technologies related to the ATP project:
"Apparatus and
Method for Spinning and Processing Collagen Fiber" (No.
5,562,946: filed 11/2/1994, granted 10/8/1996), and
"Bipolymer
Foams Having Extracellular Matrix Particulates" (No. 5,709,934:
filed 11/22/1994, granted 1/20/1998).
- applied for
three other patents related to the technology;
- made several
presentations at conferences and workshops; and
- formed a joint
venture with Wright Medical Technology, Arlington, Tenn.,
to develop and distribute products based on the ATP-funded
technology for applications involving ligaments, tendons,
cartilage and other musculoskeletal parts.
COMMERCIALIZATION
STATUS::
A commercialization venture has been formed for orthopedic applications.
Prototypes are in testing, although no product has yet entered
the market. Patent disclosures and a joint venture to commercialize
the technology may be providing useful knowledge to other researchers
in the field.
OUTLOOK::
This project is on track for market entry in the very near future.
The technology is scheduled to be used first in the fabrication
of periodontal prostheses and orthopedic applications. Ideas
for skin and wound-healing products are also being explored
by the company with potential custmers.
COMPANY::
Tissue Engineering, Inc. (TE)
451 D St., Suite 807
Boston, MA 02210
Contact:
Eugene Bell
Phone: (617) 946-0520
Number of employees:
1 at project start, 18 at the end of 1997
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Return to Top
of Page
Go to other
sections of Chapter 2: BIOTECHNOLOGY
A Patient-Friendly Approach to Human Cell
Transplantation
Reducing Viral Contamination in Donated Blood
Powerful Software for Designing New Molecules
and Therapeutic Drugs
Bioengineering of a Safe, Organic/Chemical
Insecticide
Prostheses Made of Biomaterials That Regenerate Body Parts
Date created: March 1999
Last updated:
April 12, 2005
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