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Orthopaedic surgeon Kenneth R. Alleyne MD '94 took to heart the advice of Dr. Velma Watts, associate professor emeritus of Medical Education at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Her words of wisdom—"most limitations are self-imposed"-have since paid off for Dr. Alleyne.
During his last year at the School of Medicine, Alleyne, a college roommate and three Harvard-MIT scientists founded MorphoGen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company currently focused on using its proprietary adult stem cell technology to develop products for the health care industry.
Alleyne is Director of Sports Medicine at Advanced Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Manchester, CT, and director of MorphoGen Pharmaceuticals' Scientific Advisory Board.
In 1997, the San Diego-based company patented a process for finding pluripotent stem cells (PPSC) and the biomatrices for delivering them. These PPSCs can differentiate into cells comprising bone, cartilage, tendon and muscle.
The company anticipates that its lead product, which restores normal tissue function to damaged articular cartilage and subchondral bone, will enter clinical trials at the end of 2001.
Alleyne said, "We have reached a dead end with traditional pharmaceuticals. Tissue engineering is the next phase—directing tissue to heal itself. I hope that this product will cure problems faced by all patients, including athletes, the elderly and those who have experienced injury or trauma." |