Humacyte: Saving lives with lab-grown blood vessels in conflict zones

Trauma surgeons in Ukraine operating theaters saved lives and limbs thanks to the innovative lab-grown blood vessels from US biotech, Humacyte.

Humacyte is pioneering a platform that enables the investigation, development, and manufacture of bioengineered human tissues and organs that are designed to be universally implantable, off-the-shelf, and regenerative, with the goal of treating a wide variety of diseases, injuries, and chronic conditions.

This week I had the chance to speak to Humacyte founder, President and Chief Executive Laura Niklason about the company she has built, the science she is driving forward, and the real-world applications for Humacyte’s lab-grown blood vessels in some of the most devastating and dangerous conflicts.

1:00     Introducing Laura Niklason

4:50     Humacyte and its mission

6:27     Competitive landscape

7:45     Partnering for scale

9:49     How to grow blood vessels in the lab

11:47   Implanting the vessels

13:32   Human vessels vs synthetic vessels

15:10   The manufacturing process

16:23   Overcoming skepticism, demonstrating value

19:01   Navigating the regulatory approval process

21:17   The role of the Department of Defense in innovative biotech

22:30   Using Humacyte vessels in the field

23:20   Humacyte vessels in the Ukraine War

28:22   Lessons from the Ukraine War

30:09   Goals for the coming years

33:35   Scaling manufacturing

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

To dive deeper into the topic:

• Current trends & innovations in 3D organoids
• The future of organ transplants: Xenotransplantation, 3D bioprinting and stem cells