The University of Minnesota has signed a license agreement to form a start-up company to market organ-replacement technology developed by a university scientist.
The university says it recently signed an exclusive, global license deal with Miromatrix Medical Inc. to commercialize the work of Dr. Doris Taylor.
In 2008, Taylor's team got national attention when it announced that it had stripped a rat heart of its cells then repopulated the leftover cellular scaffolding and restarted the heart.
The university says the technology licensed to Miromatrix could one day result in scientists growing replacement organs for patients in a laboratory.
Under the agreement, the university will get equity in the new company as well as future royalty and sublicensing fees.
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