This is the reason we get to work early every morning - there's a death every thirty seconds from organ failure. As I write this letter, there are 99,285 Americans¹ on the waiting list for donor organs, and if they are fortunate enough to find one, they will face a lifetime of treatment to suppress their immune systems to prevent rejection. The unmet human need is staggering and the cost to America for current treatments - there are no cures - has reached $100 billion a year according to a recent U.S. government report.²
Tengion is a leading regenerative medicine company committed to transforming this challenging landscape with new organs and tissues made from a patient's own cells - with the potential to cure, not just treat, organ failure. Our technology harnesses the body's natural regenerative power. It may sound like the future, but the future is now. Our most advanced product candidate, the urinary Neo-Bladder is in Phase 2 clinical trials in the United States. Our robust technology platform has been deployed to grow cells successfully for thirteen other tissues and organs, including the kidney.
It surprises many people to learn that there are more than twice as many surgeries every year to repair or replace defective bladders as there are to transplant hearts. Tengion's Neo-Bladders have the potential to restore bladder function and improve quality of life - without the well-documented, serious side-effects of current surgical treatment (which typically uses intestine to reconstruct the bladder or a plastic bag to hold urine outside of the body). The successful implantation of Neo-Bladders in 7 children, who were followed for 2 to 5 years, was reported in The Lancet in 2006 and brought worldwide acclaim to our scientific founder, Dr. Anthony Atala. His team's long-term, groundbreaking human clinical experience - the world's first regenerated human organs - is our legacy.
Tengion's leadership team - averaging twenty years of experience in biotech, pharmaceutical, and device companies - is building a scientific and manufacturing infrastructure capable of advancing multiple neo-organs and tissues from discovery through development and commercialization. We've built the world's first facility to grow human organs for surgeons to implant in patients in our ongoing clinical trials. Our laboratories are already growing veins and arteries as well as cells to improve kidney function.
Because our company's potential to transform lives may be unparalleled, we come to work every day knowing the difference we can make - to advance cures that have the potential to reverse organ failure and diminish human suffering, while potentially helping to diminish healthcare costs associated with the chronic management of failing organs and tissues and chronic immunosuppression treatments associated with organ transplants.
Our passion for regenerative medicine is at the heart of what we do. Thank you for your interest in Tengion.
¹United Network for Organ Sharing (August 25, 2008)
²2020: A New Vision, A Future for Regenerative Medicine, United States Department of Health and Human Services, January 2005, p. 7.