FP7-NMP Project TEH-TUBE: RESCOLL was in Paris to launch the development of a bioresorbable polymeric valve tube

On the 16^th and 17^th of January, RESCOLL was at Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris for the kick-off meeting of the Tissue engineering of the right heart outflow tract by a biofunctionalized bioresorbable polymeric valved tube (TEH-TUBE) project.
Funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration (FP7), and part of the Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies (NMP) research theme, this ambitious project aims at developing an innovative biomaterial for the treatment of congenital heart abnormalities in children and young adults.

Approximately 42% of infants’ mortality in the world is related to congenital heart defects (prevalence: 8-12/1000 births). Over 1/3 require the reconstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) by surgical procedures which currently use inert materials without any growth potential. Consequently, multiple reoperations are often required, with their attendant high risk of mortality and morbidity. The TEH-TUBE project will address these limitations by creating a novel bioabsorbable biomaterial using a polymeric valved tube either seeded with autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) or functionalized by a peptidic sequence triggering homing of the host cells onto the scaffold to make it a living self-populated structure. By creating a material whose growth will keep pace with that of the patient, this product, geared to become an advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP), should decrease the risk of reoperative surgeries, improve the quality of life and ultimately have a positive impact on healthcare costs (see Figure 1 below).

Already involved in the medical field thanks to its subsidiary RESCOLL Manufacturing and its implication in other health oriented projects, TEH-TUBE will allow RESCOLL to increase its knowledge on the cardiac field and complete its competencies and know-how in:

• physical, chemical and mechanical analyses of synthetic biomaterials,
• chemical grafting of biologically active compounds onto biomaterials,
• work in GMP conditions,
• regulatory issues…

The TEH-TUBE consortium is made up of Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (France), Statice SAS (France), Rescoll (France), Cardio3 BioSciences (Belgium), University College London (UK), Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, Zentrum für Material- und Küstenforschung  GmbH (Germany), and Euram Limited (UK).

Figure 1: Structure of heart valves
(i) schematics of the 2D position of the four valves on valvular basal plane of heart where P: pulmonary valve, AO:aortic valve, M: mitral valve, and T: tricuspid valve.
(ii–iv)  some native and tissue engineered heart valves: (ii) porcine pulmonary heart valve, (iii)  decellularized porcine aortic heart valve, and (iv) tissue engineered human heart valve.
(adapted from Hasan, A., et al., Biomechanical properties of native and tissue engineered heart valve constructs. Journal of Biomechanics (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2013.09.023)

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under Grant Agreement no 604049

For more information, please contact Marie-Pierre Foulc (mp.foulc@rescoll.fr)

EUROPE • fp7 • rescoll • TEH-TUBE