Innovation UK > News > Innovation UK Vol5-1 > Regenerative medicine in the North of England

RegeNer8, the N8 Centre for Translational Regenerative Medicine, bridges the gap between the N8 Universities of Durham, Lancaster, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York and the regenerative medicine industry in the North of England. Its aim is to accelerate the development of regenerative technologies.

RegeNer8 is a virtual technology market and development centre which adds value by:

• Developing industry-relevant enabling technologies.
• Providing workshops on core focus areas such as regulation and safety.
• Coordinating consortia of academics, industry and clinicians.
• Accelerating the development of regenerative therapies to the clinic.

?RegeNer8 builds upon the extensive research activities of the Northern Universities (currently, over £100 million). It focuses on partnerships with industry and clinicians to translate basic research into novel regenerative products and therapies, which will provide economic and societal benefits to the North of England.? Prof. John Fisher, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University and Academic Director of RegeNer8

REGENER8 AIMS

RegeNer8?s aim is to improve the global competitiveness of the northern regenerative medicine industry, through:

• Technology Marketplace
  The core of RegeNer8 is a web-based technology marketplace, which facilitates collaboration and is underpinned by a capabilities database of the regenerative medicine expertise of the North of England. The database is the result of extensive desk research and interviews with researchers across the region and includes in-depth information on academic, industrial and clinical expertise. One of RegeNer8?s key roles is the facilitation of consortium formation, which is conducted via the online technology marketplace and business development team.
• Funding
  RegeNer8 supports & funds three types of industryfocused research projects: »» Strategic Industry Collaborations ? providing matched funding to support academic-industry collaborative research projects at an early stage of the applied R&D pipeline. »» Industry Challenges ? RegeNer8 facilitates contract research within the N8 universities, undertaken on behalf of industry, by building bespoke teams. RegeNer8 is also providing professional project management to ensure project goals are realised. »» Technology Validation ? RegeNer8 provides matched funding to support the validation of technology emerging from the N8 universities.
• Workshops
  Finally, RegeNer8 organises regular workshops on issues that were identified by members as being major barriers to market. They include regulation, IP issues, safety, funding, health economics and uncertain business models. These workshops feature talks from experts in the field and participatory group exercises that aim to share best practice and influence future policy.

ABOUT REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Regenerative medicine aims to replace or repair diseased or damaged body parts. It is a highly multidisciplinary area incorporating aspects of engineering, cell biology and materials science.

Regenerative medicine encompasses: Cell therapy, Tissue engineering, Regenerative drugs and Devices. It currently represents a very small, emergent sector with the potential to be hugely disruptive. The North hosts significant industry activity in regenerative medicine including: Pharma (Astra Zeneca, Sanofi-aventis); Medical Devices (Smith & Nephew, Johnson & Johnson); and Biotech SMEs (Intercytex, Renovo, Axordia, ReInnervate, Tissue Regenix, Neotherix).

Major barriers to market are (identified in a survey of industry partners): Safety and regulatory issues, Funding and Uncertain business models.

For further information, contact:
E-mail:
Website: www.regener8.ac.uk