Testing Begins for Novel Urinary Diversion Approach

EAST NORRITON, Pa—Tengion, Inc., a company developing ways create autologous new organs and tissues, has announced that it has implanted its Neo-Urinary Conduit in the first patient as part of a phase 1 clinical trial.

The product is being tested as a treatment for bladder cancer patients requiring urinary diversion following bladder removal. It is made from a patient’s own cells obtained from a fat biopsy and is designed to catalyze regeneration of native-like bladder tissue, according to Tengion.

This would eliminate the need to use a patient’s bowel tissue for urinary diversion, thereby avoiding related complications. The trial will enroll up to five patients.

From the November 01, 2010 Issue of Renal and Urology News