Six Companies, $500,000 Each: What NC’s Regenerative Medicine Ecosystem Awards Delivered

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – March 5, 2026 –When the Regenerative Medicine Engine in North Carolina opened applications for its first Ecosystem Awards in December 2024, 20 companies applied for a piece of targeted funding meant to push regenerative medicine products across the finish line toward commercialization. Six were selected. Fifteen months later, the results are in. 

Each of the six companies: Biorg, BioSpherix, BMI OrganBank, Brinter, FetTech and Humabiologics received a $500,000 award tied to a specific technology nearing market entry, ranging from tumor organoid testing to organ preservation to 3D-bioprinted implants. Two-thirds of the projects advanced at least one full level on the technology readiness scale used to track progress toward commercialization, and every project reached at least a medium readiness score on the separate scale used to judge market adoption. 

The awards produced results beyond the lab. Collectively, the companies reinvested $1.9 million of their awards back into the regional economy through salaries, taxes and vendor contracts, raised an additional $1 million in outside capital, and created six new positions in the Engine’s service region. One awardee, BMI OrganBank, went on to earn FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its kidney preservation technology. 

Manufacturing scalability and product optimization were the most common wins companies reported. The most common obstacles were staffing preclinical research positions and sourcing biological materials. Several companies said that without the award, they would have struggled to scale their technology or would not have pursued the project at all. 

“The power in collaboration with like-minded labs and companies cannot be underestimated,” one ecosystem company said of its experience in the program. 

The Engine, backed by a National Science Foundation award, is now weighing how to build the program’s stage-gate evaluation framework into future funding rounds. 

About RegMIC: RegMIC is an industry-led organization dedicated to accelerating the development and commercialization of regenerative medicine therapies. The organization convenes industry leaders, researchers, and innovators to address critical challenges and advance the field. For more information, visit https://remdo.com/regmic/.

About ReMDO:  The RegenMed Development Organization (ReMDO) is a 501(c)3 non-profit with a mission to help deliver on the promise of regenerative medicine by advancing research to de-risk technologies, promoting progress of biomanufacturing scale-up and automation to make technologies more affordable, and speeding up the translation to clinical practice. For more information, visit https://remdo.org/.