After 40 years of development, regenerative medicine technologies are maturing and the market appears to be at a key inflection point. Driven by a technology push from the RM programs now proliferating at major universities throughout the world, and a market pull from large pharmaceutical companies seeking to fill their diminishing pipelines, the field is poised for rapid expansion. Fueling this expansion are the demographics of an aging population seeking cures for many previously incurable degenerative diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and Parkinson’s disease.

RM technologies hold the promise of curing such diseases, and companies that can move RM technologies from the lab to the bedside will likely be successful. However, success will depend on a combination of great technology, proper financing, and sound business judgments. The Proteus Ventures Fund possesses the right combination of scientific expertise, legal judgment, and deep business experience necessary to guide RM companies to success. These complementary skill sets will allow the Fund to invest successfully and build companies that address the growing demand for the next generation of medical solutions.

There are currently over 570 ongoing clinical trials involving cell therapies or tissue engineering. Many of these trials involve adult stem cells products for cancer applications such as blood and bone marrow transplantation. Additionally, there are also over 75 ongoing trials involving adult stem cells addressing other therapeutic applications such as heart disease, diabetes, severe burns, bone regrowth, and vision impairment.

The indications that regenerative medicine tackles are often poorly addressed by current surgical or drug based therapies. Adult stem cells have been studied for over 40 years and are well characterized, which has led to the FDA approval of several cell therapies: repopulation of bone marrow following chemotherapy, and treatment of select hematologic diseases and immune disorders.

In addition, several companies are now working on products derived from embryonic stem cells and recent progress indicates that some should reach the clinic in the near term. Proteus also sees near-term revenue opportunities for companies making tools for the industry, or using stem cells for drug discovery and development.

The forces driving this growth of the regenerative medicine market are both compelling and well known: an aging population which demands increasingly more sophisticated treatments has driven US healthcare spendings to $1.8T per annum, or 15.4% of GDP. Those numbers are expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.1%. In this context it is not surprising that the current market for regenerative medicine is $3.6B, and is projected to reach $11.5B in 2010 with a projected CAGR of 27.5%. The DHHS predicts that the market for regenerative medicine therapies will reach $300B by 2020.

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Conference Pittsburgh October 2006 (pdf)