Human Organs Manufacturing Moves From Research Labs to Production Facility

Jan. 17, 2014

From an MIT Technology Review report: "Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, or HART, is testing its synthetic trachea system in Russia and has plans for similar tests in the European Union this year. The company is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to set up a trial in the United States as well."

Patricia Panchak

A Boston-area company is taking the next step toward moving the manufacture of human organs from the research labs to manufacturing facilities, according to an MIT Technology Review report.

"Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology, or HART, is testing its synthetic trachea system in Russia and has plans for similar tests in the European Union this year. The company is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to set up a trial in the United States as well.

The synthetic windpipes are made by growing a patient’s own stem cells on a lab-made scaffold. In the future, this technique could be adapted to create other organs, such as a replacement esophagus, heart valve, or kidney."

Last October, a report in The Lancet announced that the world's first tissue-engineered trachea transplant patient "enjoys good quality of life with no complications." Researchers and doctors who were quoted in press release about the announcement, assert that the patient's progress indicates that a "tissue-engineering strategy" is safe and promising.

Though the patient's new trachea was grown on a decellularized trachea from a human donor, not a synthetic trachea, David Green, CEO of HART, as quoted in the press release, noted the similarities between the two approaches. "[The results] bode well not only for implants involving decellularized human donor organs, but, because the cell-seeding and implant procedures are almost identical, also for the long-term success of organs grown on synthetic scaffolds in our bioreactors."

The MIT report notes that the four most recent artificial trachea surgeries have been done with these lab-made scaffolds, according to Green.

Read the full report at TechnologyReview.com.

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Patricia Panchak | Patricia Panchak, Former Editor-in-Chief

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In her commentary and reporting for IndustryWeek, Editor-in-Chief Patricia Panchak covers world-class manufacturing industry strategies, best practices and public policy issues that affect manufacturers’ competitiveness. She delivers news and analysis—and reports the trends--in tax, trade and labor policy; federal, state and local government agencies and programs; and judicial, executive and legislative actions. As well, she shares case studies about how manufacturing executives can capitalize on the latest best practices to cut costs, boost productivity and increase profits.

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An award-winning editor, Panchak received the 2004 Jesse H. Neal Business Journalism Award for Signed Commentary and helped her staff earn the 2004 Neal Award for Subject-Related Series. She also has earned the American Business Media’s Midwest Award for Editorial Courage and Integrity.

Patricia holds bachelor’s degrees in Journalism and English from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in Journalism from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She lives in Cleveland Hts., Ohio, with her family.