Scientists and business people gathered in Yale's Anlyan Center October 16 to hear the opening seminar of this season's CURE/Yale BioHaven Entrpreneurship Series, a presentation by Humacyte, Inc. Jon Soderstrom, managing director of Yale's Office of Cooperative Research, introduced Dr. Laura Niklason, M.D., Ph.D., Founder and CSO. and Geoffrey Erickson, Ph.D., President and CEO, of Humacyte.

Humacyte's core technology is the engineering of human-based tissue scaffolds that can be shaped into tubes, sheets, or particulate conformations and can be applied to many specific applications. The Company's process includes growing these scaffolds utilizing a proprietary process with a unique cell source. The process results in the creation of an off-the-shelf product that can be utilized in any patient.

Humacyte is developing its technology for multiple product opportunities. Markets to be addressed include: cardiovascular, cosmetic, and soft tissue reconstruction. At present the company is primarily focused on developing its products for vascular replacement and as a dermal filler. With the injectable formulation, there are several different markets that can be addressed. For instance, an injectable product can be used as a dermal filler in the cosmetics market or as a bulking agent in the urological markets.

In its tubular conformation, the product can be used for general vascular replacements in the periphery and in kidney failure patients who require graft placement for dialysis machine access. The longer term and broadest potential market for Humacyte's technology is the coronary artery bypass (CABG) market.

Dr. Laura Niklason, the Company's scientific founder, is a world leader in tissue engineering. Her research has appeared in some of the most highly regarded peer-reviewed scientific publications, including the journals Science and The Lancet. Dr. Niklason is currently Associate Professor of Anesthesia and Biomedical Engineering at Yale University. She received her PhD in Biophysics from the University of Chicago and her MD from the University of Michigan. She performed her postdoctoral work at MIT in Dr. Robert Langer's laboratory.

Dr. Geoffrey Erickson joined Humacyte as President and CEO in September 2006. Prior to Humacyte, Dr. Erickson was a Principal with Pappas Ventures, a life-science focused venture capital firm that manages $250 million. Prior to and while at Pappas he was instrumental in many life science company financing transactions as well as designing several startup companies. Dr. Erickson earned his PhD in the Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering Departments at Duke University, where he also currently holds an Assistant Adjunct Professorship in the Department of Surgery.