Bioconstructor-S, a JV of the Siberian State Medical University (SibSMU, Tomsk) and the Institute of Physics of Strength and Material Sciences of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the project in the sector of regenerative medicine on making tissue bioconstructors, has received a status of a resident of the Skolkovo center, NanoNewsNet reports.

“Bioconstructor-S, set up specifically for the project, was included into the register of participants of the Skolkovo innovation center. The firm locations will be distributed between the three sites in Tomsk… As of today, an application to the Bortnik Fund for a $30,000 grant has been formed. We will also prepare an application to the Skolkovo Fund for a $1m grant,” Igor Khlusov, the teacher in the university, said.

He noted that on the average such companies need about $1.8m for successful startup.

“So far we are not reaching this amount, but we will look for additional sources of finance. In 2012-2014 and up to 2020 the project will be financed by grants, including the grant of the Skolkovo fund, economic agreements and commercialization of technologies, as well as other sources under the program INO Tomsk 2020,” Mr. Khlusov specified.

According to Mr. Khlusov, the foreign partner of the project is the Riga Technical University in Latvia.

The project “Development and implementation of the “tissue bioconstructors” technology in regenerative medicine” passed the expert assessment of the Skolkovo innovation center in summer 2011. Tissue bioconstructor is the new concept of interaction of artificial materials with live objects. It will be put in the basis of various new fields in medicine. Scientists suggest to form new features of existing biologically compatible materials through changing their surfaces. This will give the implants new functions – they will be able to not only serve as prosthesis, but also help stem cells to restore lost tissue and body structure.