Seifert will lead TissueGen’s application of its ELUTE fibre technology to treat spinal cord injuries and related applications for regenerative medicine.

“We are excited to have a research scientist of Dr Seifert’s calibre leading our SCI repair programme as we enter Phase II animal trials to validate ELUTE fibres’ ability to enable nerve regeneration,” said Christopher Knowles, CEO. “Jennifer’s research experience in spinal cord injury modelling makes her the ideal choice to lead TissueGen’s development of a cure for paralysis.”

Extensive expertise

Seifert joins TissueGen from the University of Texas at Dallas, where she held the position of Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering.

She has an extensive background in molecular biology and neuroscience and has focused her research career largely upon the development of repair strategies for the central and peripheral nervous systems applying cellular and molecular mechanisms of axonal growth.

As a postdoctoral fellow at University of Texas at Arlington, Seifert established an animal model of distraction spinal cord injury in collaboration with Texas Scottish Rite Hospital. She has also worked on evaluating nerve regeneration through a biosynthetic nerve conduit, establishing a wireless device and protocol for recording somatosensory evoked potentials, and testing the reliability and stability of a regenerative nerve electrode interface.

Improving clinical outcomes

“A large focus of my career has been to apply knowledge of cellular neuroscience and signal transduction to models of spinal cord injury repair and I am now pleased to work with  TissueGen’s ELUTE fibres to develop advanced treatments in nerve repair,” said Jennifer Seifert.

TissueGen’s ELUTE fibres directly replace standard fibres in biodegradable medical textiles and may significantly improve clinical outcomes by delivering therapeutic agents directly at the surgical site, the company reports.

Through localized delivery of drugs at the site of implantation, ELUTE fibres may enable medical devices to orchestrate the body’s response.

TissueGen

TissueGen has more than four decades of cumulative experience in extruding biodegradable polymer fibres with broad drug delivery capabilities well-suited for advanced drug delivery, nerve regeneration, and tissue engineering.

TissueGen offers the medical market a portfolio of issued patents on unique drug delivery technology with the capability to incorporate and elute a broad range of biologically derived therapeutics and standard pharmaceuticals in hydrophobic, biodegradable polymeric fibres or tubes for sustained therapeutic release.

www.tissuegen.com