Scientific Platform

Tengion's technology has the potential to create new human tissues and organs (neo-tissues and neo-organs) by using the patient's own (autologous) cells. By contrast, organ transplantation from other donors (allogenic transplants) can be associated with rejection and the adverse effects of immunosuppression.

Tengion's patented technology integrates multiple breakthroughs in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. While it has long been held that the body contains cells with regenerative power, Tengion is the first company to be able to identify these cells and harness them to create a specific neo-organ, with the potential to create a variety of neo-organs and tissues on a commercial scale. These committed progenitor cells, which come from the patient, are genetically committed to becoming a specific cell type e.g., a bladder cell, but they are not yet fully differentiated.

The diagram illustrates the development of a Tengion Neo-Bladder. The Tengion Neo-Bladder is currently being evaluated in human clinical trials and is not commercially available.

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