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ePaper created 2013-09-24, 11:56:35 | version 1.25.20
28 New Fraunhofer Translational Center for Medical Products and Cell-based Regenerative Therapies in Würzburg In December 2012 the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs approved the funding of a “Translational Center for Medical Products and Cell-based Regenerative Therapies” in Würzburg under the direction of Professor Heike Walles, who heads the Cell and Tissue Engineering department at the Fraunhofer IGB in Stuttgart and the IGB’s Oncology Project Group in Würz- burg. Over the next five years, the Bavarian State will fund the planned center with an annual grant of 3.5 million euros. The objective is to get findings from materials research and regen- erative medicine flowing more quickly into clinical practice. This process will also involve the University Clinic in Würzburg, where Walles has been Chair of Tissue Engineering and Re- generative Medicine since 2009. The goal of the center will be to cover the entire value of in- novative medical products and regenerative therapies – from the development of substances in an early experimental devel- opmental phase, via the pre-clinical phase up to clinical stud- ies required for regulatory approval. The aim is to promote collaboration between scientists engaged in fundamental research, pre-clinical researchers, clinicians and materials re- searchers, and to pool these activities. Thus biologic medical products and cell-based, regenerative therapies could soon become a substantial component of medical care. Biologic implants are based on medical products whose surfaces or substances are modified with active agents or cells in order to trigger or accelerate regenerative processes following implan- tation. Ideally, the human cells used for biologic medical prod- ucts as well as for regenerative therapies will come from the patients requiring treatment themselves. Thus it will be possi- ble to replace damaged cells or injured tissue without the risk of rejection and act directly on the cause of the disease. HIGHLIGHTS 2012 6 6