Humacyte's Universally Implantable, Bioengineered Tissues Treat Injured in Ukraine

MTEC member Humacyte, Inc., a regenerative medical technology company based in Durham, NC, is pioneering the development and manufacturing of off-the-shelf, universally-implantable, bioengineered tissues. Its technology platform can create what they call the "Human Acellular Vessel™ (HAV™)," which can regenerate to potentially become the patient’s own living tissue.

In March 2022, just after conflict began in Ukraine, Ukrainian surgeons began requesting the HAVs for distribution to hospitals. The HAVs were used to treat patients with various injuries including shrapnel wounds, gunshots, and mine blast injuries. Use of HAVs has saved significant operating time due to the absence of the need for surgeons to remove a human vein for constructing a bypass.

MTEC’s support enabled Humacyte’s manufacturing platform to move forward and provided the company an opportunity to partner with the military to treat vascular injuries.

In an October interview with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), Dr. Juliana Blum, executive vice president of corporate development for Humacyte and a founder of the company, said, “Early funding from MTEC was instrumental in advancing our manufacturing platform development forward. It allowed us to achieve building the first commercial-scale tissue engineering system.”

MTEC's consortium model accelerated this life-saving technology into the hands of those who need it. In 2017, Humacyte secured more than $6.8 million in funding from USAMRDC through MTEC.