Novel Engineered Living Neural Tissue, for Peripheral Nerve Repair

We plan to develop a novel ‘living nerve growth guide’ as an off the shelf therapy to treat peripheral nerve injury, which can cause lifelong pain and disability and is a significant unmet medical need. Our therapy would substitute for an autograft, the current ‘gold standard’ for peripheral nerve repair. Partners TAP Biosystems and The Open University have already shown that combining their novel tissue engineering technologies enables robust, self-aligning cellular tissues to be made from collagen. These mimic the structure of peripheral nerve and support neuronal regeneration in vivo. In this project we will build on initial work using partner ReNeuron’s clinical grade neural stem cells. We will develop production tools, optimise the process, characterise the properties of our living nerve growth guide and then carry out efficacy tests of nerve regeneration. Success in the project will provide initial proof of concept data, so that this novel therapy can progress towards the clinic.