The Rebirth of Dermagraft

Dermagraft is often mentioned as an example of a failure in tissue engineering, illustrating the difficulty of achieving return on investment in this field. The product was only a market failure, however; clinicians say that it worked to heal difficult wounds, and that it was just a product ahead of its time. Now small company Advanced BioHealing has given new life to the bioengineered dermal substitute, abandoned by Smith & Nephew, by supporting it with the focus, and the unique marketing and manufacturing skills that tissue-engineered products require. In the process, it believes it has created assets and skill-sets from which other tissue-engineering start-ups might benefit.