A national center of excellence
With the opening of the Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine in Plymouth Township, Wayne County moved a step closer to establishing itself as a national center for excellence in the emerging field of adult stem-cell therapy.
Wayne County moved a step closer this month to establishing itself as a national center for excellence in the emerging field of adult stem-cell therapy.
Scientists, policy experts and elected leaders welcomed The Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine (MCRM) to its new 22,000 square-foot facility in Plymouth Township Oct. 19.
The new development compliments the 57,000 square-foot Michigan Life Science Innovation Center, right across Beck Road, and TechTown, located at Wayne State University, which opened the doors recently to its Stem Cell Commercialization Center.
Wayne County will shortly be the one-stop-shop for all facets of the industry, experts say.“This is another key facility in the establishment of a clustering of buildings [in Wayne County] that provide a holistic approach for companies seeking to develop and commercialize their products in the stem cell industry,” said Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano.
The MCRM facility is expected to be fully operational by spring 2011.
When completed, MCRM will be a state-of-the-art facility housing research and development, manufacturing, and commercialization companies of adult stem-cell, regenerative medicine.
Officials said it will also include 2,600 square feet dedicated to a good manufacturing practice/current good tissue practice facility for human cell propagation and stem cell device fabrication, storage and shipping.
Innovative Bio Technologies (IBT), a University of Michigan spin-off, will be the first company in the MCRM facility.
IBT develops adult stem-cell therapies to treat acute renal failure, end stage renal disease, congestive heart failure and diabetes.
H. David Humes, M.D., president and chief science officer of IBT, said his company is readying for manufacturing the bi-artificial kidney, a little mini-pump with one hundred million kidney cells, the size and shape of a hockey puck, that would hang from a patient’s belt and perform all the functions of an adult kidney.
No longer would a patient have to be tethered to a dialysis machine. Plus it’s expected to save the healthcare and insurance industry millions of dollars annually.
“The hope would be to have testing here in two years,” Humes said.
Humes said the job creation potential around the adult stem-cell commercialization industry is enormous.
“This facility can move from a pilot production plant to a fully commercial plant. Assembly lines not of cars, but of little devices made of cells,” he said.
Wayne County’s Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) awarded $2.2 million in Department of Housing and Urban Development funds to the project. The money will be used to do build-out of the facility and prepare it for state-of-the-art operations.
Excitement over the groundbreaking was ratcheted-up during the ceremony when it was announced that Regulatory Affairs Associates (RAA), an organization that specializes in assisting companies in the application and interpretation of FDA regulatory policy as it relates to new drugs and medical devices, will be joining the new facility.
RAA landed two large federal contracts to train and consult 200 companies nationwide on FDA regulatory policy. All 200 companies will have to travel to the MCRM facility to receive their consultation, thus showcasing the resources the MCRM facility and the region in general have to offer.
“I’m certain [the MCRM facility] is going to attract new businesses to locate into this county, into this state,” said Stephen Goldner, president and CEO of RAA.
“Today we are opening another set of doors and welcoming companies from across the country and the world to join us in this journey,” said Wayne County Commissioner Laura Cox (R-Livonia). MCRM is in Cox’s district.
Adult stem-cell therapy is becoming a multi-billion dollar a year business. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services is projecting by 2015 the U.S. market will be $500 billion annually.
But the real winners in this emerging industry are the millions of patients suffering from kidney disease, diabetes and congestive heart failure. There’s real hope on the horizon.
“Sometimes we get caught up in the money and the projects and the jobs, and that’s important,” said Ficano. “But we sometimes forget the human side of it. Somebody somewhere is going to benefit from this. A loved one battling a disease will live a better quality of life.”
Pat Dostine is deputy press secretary to the Wayne County Executive and a frequent contributor to the EDGE newsletter.
Photos by James Wallace, senior creative, Wayne County Communications Team.
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