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Summary of empirical results

This report discusses the current state and activities of an emerging and fastmoving knowledge field: that of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, or TERM for short. In the present study, TERM is defined as medical treatments, be they biological or synthetic, which enhance, repair or replace cells, tissues and organs using bioengineered materials, cellular technologies as well as some forms of implants.

There are indications that Sweden and Swedish players can take an active role in contributing to the field as well as reaping its returns. Exactly how the field and its associated industries will evolve is highly uncertain and this goes for the timeframe of clinical applications as well as viable business models.

The aim of this study is to understand the Swedish position in an international comparison with that of some of the leading nations globally: two European countries, Germany and the UK; one Asian player, Japan; and the US (where interviews were focused in one state, California). The countries in focus have despite their difference in size, been chosen since
they stand for a major part of the scientific and industrial development of the field. Players in these countries to a large extent form the TERM development and it is also with individual players in these countries Swedish research environments and companies are likely to compete and collaborate. Another aim is to identify what initiatives could stimulate knowledge creation and innovation processes leading to new therapies and products beneficial to patients and which might also ultimately contribute to economic growth in Sweden. The analysis in the report is based on a number of complementary sources including literature studies, interviews, mapping of academic and industrial players, bibliometric data as well as a mapping of public initiatives.

The scientific knowledge base for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications can be described as a multidisciplinary combination of materials science, fundamental biological sciences and pre-clinical and clinical medicine. Tissue engineering includes the development of therapeutic solutions based on a combination of a) scaffolds based on biomaterials, b) cells and tissue and c) biomolecules. It still very much remains to be seen how the industry developing tissue engineered products and services will mature but the field will affect for instance the pharmaceutical, orthopaedic and dental industries. In the five countries selected for an in-depth analysis, 303 companies were identified, of which 73 firms are developing organ-specific, tissue-engineered products. The bulk of the companies (230 firms) are found in for instance the pharmaceutical industry g on drug discovery and development by using stem cells or are firms that develop drugs to be used in regenerative
medicine (e.g. growth factors). A number of companies are developing tools for use specifically in TERM applications (e.g. for handling of stem cells) and there are biomaterial companies g on TERM applications...계속