Within a decade, people in need of a new liver, heart or kidney will get a new one practically on demand. These brand-new organs will be regenerated from their very own cells.
That’s according to one maverick expert, Dean Kamen. He is a serial inventor of medical devices, with 440 patents to his credit. That includes an electronic wheelchair that can climb and descend stairs, a robotic prosthetic arm and the first portable insulin-delivery system.
Kamen believes regenerative medicine is the next big thing. And he says medical research is close to creating relatively inexpensive, engineered human organs.
And because these organs use the “donor’s” own cells, their bodies would be far less likely to reject them.
It is the kind of emergent technology promised by science fiction …
Dr. McCoy points some gizmo at Captain Kirk, and all of his injuries magically disappear. Now, rapid advances in computing power, predictive analytics and biotechnology are helping researchers make it reality.
The science starts by taking ordinary cells from blood or the skin. Then those get converted to induced pluripotent stem cells.
These cells are later transformed into the specific cells required to regenerate tissue.
BlueRock Therapeutics, a Boston-based startup, raised $225 million in 2016 from Bayer and Versant Ventures. It focuses on allogeneic cells because they are the easiest to produce. They also don’t have to come from the patient.
BlueRock hopes to regenerate tissue by developing stem cells that transform into cells that otherwise would not grow back.
For example, heart-attack sufferers typically lose hundreds of millions of cells. Those cells are replaced with more-rigid scar tissue.
In some cases, the lack of elasticity incapacitates the heart. The only remedy is a transplant.
BlueRock’s strategy is to inject engineered heart muscle cells into the heart. In theory, the cells should regenerate new, healthy heart tissue. The plan is to do the same with brain cells to help patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.
It’s not substantially different than the current wave of cellular therapies finding success in cancer research …
CAR T-Cell uses re-engineered cells to treat blood cancers. Novartis (NVS) showed the treatment eliminated an aggressive blood cancer (advanced lymphoblastic leukemia) in 82% of patients in clinical trials.
In many ways, Kamen’s plans are more far-reaching. Called the modern-day Thomas Edison by Popular Science, he raised $300 million from venture capitalists and the federal government to change what is possible in medicine.
Kamen is heading the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute in Manchester, N.H. He hopes to recruit two Big Pharma companies and a cottage industry of academics, universities and smaller companies to work together on cutting-edge developments.
Already, he says a couple of researchers are on the cusp of mass-producing blood.
Think about that for a moment. Scientists are very near making blood.
Apart from eliminating the need for blood drives, it’s also a key building block. Kamen sees collaborative groups using the science to regenerate skin, retinas and eventually internal organs like livers, hearts and kidneys.
It’s the sort of vision that led the Department of Defense to kick-in $80 million for ARMI.
It’s also the type of outcome investors need to get ahead of. Because it’s coming, and it’s going to be big. Maybe, even revolutionary.
Finding winners before they reach the mainstream is the service I provide to members. My team found Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN) and even Activision Blizzard (ATVI) well before the power of their new business models became widely known.
Regenerative medicine winners are being born right now. The time to buy is before they go mainstream.
Successful investing is about vision, and planning. So, get ready for regenerative medicine and all the opportunity it brings.
Best wishes,
Jon Markman
