Washington, DC — The charter members of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (Alliance) approved bylaws, and elected officers and an executive committee at its first official meeting on September 22nd. The mission of the Alliance is to promote regulatory, research, and reimbursement policies that will foster innovation in regenerative medicine and lead to transformative clinical outcomes for patients.
Chair – John Walker: Chief Executive Officer, iPierian
Vice Chair – Anthony Atala, MD: W.H. Boyce Professor, Director of the Institute for Regenerative Med. and chair of the Dept. of Urology at Wake Forest University
Secretary – Leona Brenner-Gati, MD: Vice President of Science and Technology, Johnson & Johnson’s Corporate Office of Science and Technology
Treasurer – Dean Tozer: Senior Vice President, Advanced BioHealing
“I am delighted and honored to serve as the first chairman of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. The regenerative medicine community needs a strong and focused political voice and I am confident that this group of leading companies, research institutions, and non-profits that has come together will do just that,” stated John Walker, CEO and president of iPierian and the newly elected Chair of the Alliance. “With the accelerating pace of development in regenerative medicine and new therapeutic advancements being introduced into the clinic at an ever increasing rate, it has never been more important that the companies and researchers involved in this field work together,” added Dr. Anthony Atala, vice chair of the Alliance and the W.H. Boyce Professor, Director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and chair of the Department of Urology at Wake Forest University.
The charter members of the Alliance include: foundations and non-profits such as the Foundation for Regenerative Medicine, the Genetics Policy Institute, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Association of Clinical Research Organizations, and the New York Stem Cell Foundation; research institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine; leading regenerative medicine life sciences companies Advanced BioHealing, Aldagen, ATTC The Global Bioresource Center, Geron, Fate Therapeutics, iPierian, Johnson & Johnson, Life Technologies, MaxCyte, Organovo, Pfizer Inc, Stem Cells Inc., Tengion and Transgeneron Therapeutics; and investor organizations Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers, Proteus Ventures, Safeguard Scientific and Toucan Capital.
“One of our first orders of business will be to establish a dialogue with the FDA and to work with Congress, and other parts of the Administration overseeing this field to help ensure safe and timely access to these new therapies,” explained Dr. Leona Brenner-Gati, a newly elected officer of the Alliance and Vice President of Science and Technology at Johnson and Johnson.
In addition to its advocacy mission, the Alliance will serve as a source of information about regenerative medicine for policy makers, the media and the general public. For more information about the Alliance, please visit the Alliance website at www.alliancerm.org or send an email to info@alliancerm.org. For specific questions please contact Michael Werner at mwerner@alliancerm.org (202.419.2515) or Morrie Ruffin at mruffin@alliancerm.org (301.328.1048).
