Bioreactor-based roadmap for the translation of tissue engineering strategies into clinical products.
Despite the compelling clinical need to regenerate damaged tissues/organs, impressive advances in the field of tissue engineering have yet to result in viable engineered tissue products with widespread therapeutic adoption. Although bioreactor systems have been proposed as a key factor in the manufacture of standardized and cost-effective engineered products, this concept appears slow to be embraced and implemented. Here we address scientific, regulatory and commercial challenges intrinsic to the bioreactor-based translation of tissue engineering models into clinical products, proposing a roadmap for the implementation of a new paradigm. The roadmap highlights that bioreactors must be implemented throughout product development, allowing scientific, medical, industrial and regulatory parties to address basic research questions, conduct sound pre-clinical studies and ultimately facilitating effective commercialization of engineered clinical products.
Martin
Ivan
I
Department of Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Hebelstrasse 20, 4031 Basel, Switzerland. imartin@uhbs.ch
Smith
Timothy
T
Wendt
David
D
D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D019149:Bioreactors; D006801:Humans; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*