With growing public awareness and broader academic engagement, the prospect of pioneering a change in disease management has propelled the field of regenerative medicine. The ability to build, scale and apply biotherapeutic technologies and solutions that are not cost prohibitive will become increasingly important elements that drive progress in regenerative medicine.

In a recently published paper, Mayo Clinic consultants discuss the evolution of regenerative medicine and the potential for biotherapeutics to revolutionize the reach of regenerative medicine applications.

“As validated regenerative therapies are increasingly adopted into the practice, there is an opportunity to evolve the healthcare paradigm and alter the economics of chronic disease management,” says Andre Terzic, M.D., Ph.D., the Michael S. and Mary Sue Shannon Director, Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine. “At Mayo Clinic, we are paving the way with new know-how, technology and infrastructure that will make regenerative medicine more broadly available.”

“Stem cell-based therapy was fueled by the discovery and practicality of mining adult stem cells out of bone marrow and adipose (fat) tissue,” says Atta Behfar, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the Van Cleve Cardiac Regenerative Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic. “Until recently, regeneration was largely associated with the use of stem cells to restore function to damaged tissue.”

With ongoing progress, the current cell-centered focus will be broadened to encompass next generation advances in the science of biotherapeutics, including antibodies, cytoengineering, gene encoded therapy and exosome technologies comprising the regenerative medicine platform of the future.

“The milestones achieved over the two decade journey of cardiac regeneration have brought us ever closer to the prospect of biotherapies as a way to achieve the full potential of disruptive therapies for disease management,” says Dr. Behfar.

Mayo is developing broader regenerative medicine portfolios to make this a reality. Advanced product manufacturing is enabling a patient-ready toolkit to help accelerate broad availability of regenerative medicine to patients.

Today, experts across Mayo Clinic have access to resources that empower any medical, surgical, laboratory medicine or radiology specialty to advance new discoveries toward regenerative treatments. By integrating process development and manufacturing with quality control, regulatory and clinical trial competence, these translational capabilities collectively position the Center for Regenerative Medicine as an enabler in revolutionizing patient care.

The infrastructure required to achieve rapid translation of discoveries into broadly available transformative therapies for patients is essential to developing the future of medicine. The buildout of the Regenerative Medicine Therapeutic Suites in Florida, the first Discovery Square building in Minnesota and the Arizona Forward project are bringing regenerative medicine to patients in new ways and allowing for powerful collaboration to exist between Mayo and the world.

Tags: Biomanufacturing, Biomanufacturing, Dr. Andre Terzic, Dr. Atta Behfar, Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine, stem cells