Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
in the 1970s. Regeneus' founders have much previous experience as
scientist-entrepreneurs and their current commercial success is
further evidence of the 'entrepreneurial science' model of innovation
that dominates much thinking about the relationship between basic
science and commercialization in biotechnology (Etzkowitz, 1983).
Mesoblast remains the exception to the autologous process rule with
a clearly defined product that is being produced in-house. As Mesoblast
says on its own website, this is a commercial model firmly based on
replicating that of a traditional pharmaceutical company. The idea
behind the pharmaceutical model is to identify a substantial enough
potential market to justify the expense of developing specific treatments
for it. The ideal outcome of drug development is a single pill taken once
a day that is low cost to produce, easily transportable, accessible to
patients in target markets and needed in high numbers. Pharmaceutical
companies are often much criticized for adopting this approach for a
range of reasons (inventing need where it does not exist, lack of
affordability for patients, ignoring the diseases that affect the world's
poorest people) but it has proven to be consistently successful both
clinically and commercially for decades. Mesoblast's one exception to
the classic pharmaceutical model is that instead of repeat treatments for
the same clinical indication they are looking for a wide range of clinical
indications that can be treated by the same product.
Aesthetic surgery procedures are an obvious commercial pathway
for the adult stem cell sector. A substantial market in self-
improvement has long paved the way for new surgical techniques to
emerge, with the only real limitations being the desirability of the
treatment on offer and the capacity of clients to pay. The cosmetic
market for breast augmentation is always going to be financially
significant, but the technique is easily replicated, paving the way for
intense competition keeping costs down. Yet surgeons rely on their
reputations and patient testimonials to bring in new business, so
good results are vital. Likewise, the contact lens tissue graft transfer
process is essentially so simple to replicate that it is difficult to see
whether there will be much revenue generated from it to justify the
expense of trying to maintain a proprietary hold over it.
On the whole, the examples discussed in this chapter show that
adult stem cells potentially have good commercial returns. There is
