Peak MSC—Are We There Yet?

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are a critical raw material for many regenerative medicine products, including cell-based therapies, engineered tissues, or combination products, and are on the brink of radically changing how the world of medicine operates. Their unique characteristics, potential to treat many indications, and established safety profile in more than 800 clinical trials have contributed to their current consumption and will only fuel future demand. Given the large target patient populations with typical dose sizes of 10's to 100's of millions of cells per patient, and engineered tissues being constructed with 100's of millions to billions of cells, an unprecedented demand has been created for hMSCs. The fulfillment of this demand faces an uphill challenge in the limited availability of large quantities of pharmaceutical grade hMSCs for the industry—fueling the need for parallel rapid advancements in the biomanufacturing of this living critical raw material. Simply put, hMSCs are no different than technologies like transistors, as they are a highly technical and modular product that requires stringent control over manufacturing that can allow for high quality and consistent performance. As hMSC manufacturing processes are optimized, it predicts a future time of abundance for hMSCs, where scientists and researchers around the world will have access to a consistent and readily available supply of high quality, standardized, and economical pharmaceutical grade product to buy off the shelf for their applications and drive product development—this is “Peak MSC.

Modelling human choices: MADeM and decision‑making

Research supported by FAPESP 2015/50122-0 and DFG-GRTK 1740/2. RP and AR are also part of the Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics FAPESP grant (2013/07699-0). RP is supported by a FAPESP scholarship (2013/25667-8). ACR is partially supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Science and Engineering Building, 2006

Science and Engineering Building (formerly R. G. Parsons Applied Science Building), viewed from the West. Photo taken on Swinburne Open Day 2006. Photo kindly donated to Swinburne University of Technology by Kelvin Rowley, staff member

Hawthorn campus laneway, 2006

Swinburne Open Day 2006, sites and activities. Laneway between Science and Engineering, Chemistry and Applied Science Buildings. Photo kindly donated to Swinburne University of Technology by Kelvin Rowley, staff member

Business Arts Building entrance, 2008

Front entrance of Business Arts Building (AD) and Atrium, Hawthorn Campus. Photographed on Swinburne Open Day, 17th August 2008. Photo taken by Kelvin Rowley

Atrium Steps, Hawthorn Campus, 2008

Steps from William Street leading to Atrium, Hawthorn Campus. Photographed on Swinburne Open Day, 17th August 2008. Photo taken by Kelvin Rowley

International Business volunteers, Open Day, 2008

International Business volunteers at Swinburne Open Day activities, Hawthorn Campus, 17th August 2008. Photo taken by Kelvin Rowley

Live music at Open Day 2008

Live music in John Street for Swinburne Open Day activities, Hawthorn Campus, 17th August 2008. Photo taken by Kelvin Rowley

Swinburne Place South Building, 2008

View of Swinburne Place South (SPS) Building, from Wakefield Street, Hawthorn Campus, 2008. Photo taken by Kelvin Rowley

Michael Dix, 2008

Michael Dix, Lecturer, Philosophy and Cultural Enquiry, pictured at Swinburne Open Day activities, Hawthorn Campus, 17th August 2008. Photo taken by Kelvin Rowley