Press Release - Office of the Governor
September 29, 2008
Governor Doyle Applauds Stratatech for Clinical Trial Success
Regenerative Medicine Company Successfully Completes Clinical Trial for Skin Substitute
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today applauded Stratatech Corporation for successfully completing its clinical trial of its StrataGraft living human skin substitute. In August of 2007 Governor Doyle awarded the regenerative medicine company $750,000 to help develop new techniques to use genetically enhanced human skin substitutes that can heal wounds.
“Stratatech is one of the country’s leading regenerative medicine companies and I am pleased to see that our investment is paying off,” Governor Doyle said. “Biotechnology is a competitive industry, and it’s important that in Wisconsin we continue to support companies like Stratatech that have the potential to achieve incredible breakthroughs that will save lives.”
StrataGraft is a second generation human skin substitute that exhibits normal skin structure and function. Established in 2000, Stratatech is a regenerative medicine company focused on the development of cell-based, tissue-engineered products for wound care. Stratatech is currently developing products that have been genetically enhanced to express natural, human wound-healing factors that reduce infection, improve blood flow to the wound, and increase the rate of healing with reduced scarring.
Since taking office, Governor Doyle has vastly expanded the state’s investment in regenerative medicine and stem cell technologies to capture 10 percent of the market by 2015. He also launched a $750 million initiative to develop stem cell research and biotechnology in Wisconsin. The centerpiece of this effort is the construction of the Institutes for Discovery in Madison, featuring public and private research facilities for interdisciplinary research and greater collaboration with industry on the UW-Madison campus. Additionally, Wisconsin’s WiCell was selected as the nation’s first and only National Stem Cell Bank by the National Institutes of Health in 2005.