What Is the Greatest Regulatory Challenge in the Translation of Biomaterials to the Clinic?
Abstract
Leaders in the field comment on what they perceive to be the greatest barriers to biomaterial translation.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Combining cells with biomaterials can assist cells to remain and develop in specific sites, usually for regenerative purposes.
“Further complications for outcomes can arise when combining cells with biomaterials, which can assist cells to remain and develop in specific sites, usually for regenerative purposes88.”
From How to design preclinical studies in nanomedicine and cell therapy to maximize the prospects of clinical translation (2018) · cites this paper as [88]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Webber, M. J., Appel, E. A., Meijer, E. W., & Langer, R. (2015) · Nature Materials · doi:10.1038/nmat4474 · Cited by 1,609 · see citing works
Recent advances in hyaluronic acid hydrogels for biomedical applications
Highley, C. B., Prestwich, G. D., & Burdick, J. A. (2016) · Current Opinion in Biotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2016.02.008 · Cited by 588 · see citing works
Self-citationOvercoming the translational barriers of tissue adhesives
Taboada, G. M., Yang, K., Pereira, M. J. N., Liu, S. S., Hu, Y., Karp, J. M., Artzi, N., & Lee, Y. (2020) · Nature Reviews Materials · doi:10.1038/s41578-019-0171-7 · Cited by 449 · see citing works
Biomaterials and Nanotherapeutics for Enhancing Skin Wound Healing
Das, S., & Baker, A. B. (2016) · Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology · doi:10.3389/fbioe.2016.00082 · Cited by 331 · see citing works
“The major concerns with natural products include batch-to-batch variability, long-term immunogenicity, and safety (Pashuck and Stevens, 2012; Prestwich et al., 2012).”
BackgroundDesigning Regenerative Biomaterial Therapies for the Clinic
Pashuck, E. T., & Stevens, M. M. (2012) · Science Translational Medicine · doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3002717 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
Biomaterials to Mimic and Heal Connective Tissues
Freedman, B. R., & Mooney, D. J. (2019) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201806695 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Ioannidis, J. P. A., Kim, B. Y. S., & Trounson, A. (2018) · Nature Biomedical Engineering · doi:10.1038/s41551-018-0314-y · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Self-citationBiomaterials to enhance stem cell transplantation
Kharbikar, B. N., Mohindra, P., & Desai, T. A. (2022) · Cell stem cell · doi:10.1016/j.stem.2022.04.002 · Cited by 183 · see citing works
Biomaterials for Personalized Cell Therapy
Facklam, A. L., Volpatti, L. R., & Anderson, D. G. (2019) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201902005 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Injectable biomaterials for translational medicine
Zhou, H., Liang, C., Wei, Z., Bai, Y., Bhaduri, S. B., Webster, T. J., Bian, L., & Yang, L. (2019) · Materials Today · doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2019.04.020 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Acellular Biomaterials: An Evolving Alternative to Cell-Based Therapies
Burdick, J. A., Mauck, R. L., Gorman, J. H., & Gorman, R. C. (2013) · Science Translational Medicine · doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3003997 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Leveraging advances in biology to design biomaterials
Darnell, M., & Mooney, D. J. (2017) · Nature Materials · doi:10.1038/nmat4991 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Hyaluronic Acid-Based Nanosystems for CD44 Mediated Anti-Inflammatory and Antinociceptive Activity
Salathia, S., Gigliobianco, M. R., Casadidio, C., Martino, P. D., & Censi, R. (2023) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms24087286 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
“Translating biomaterials from laboratory experiments to commercial development takes decades [123,124].”
BackgroundHydrogels as Emerging Materials for Translational Biomedicine
Xue, K., Wang, X., Yong, P. W., Young, D. J., Wu, Y., Li, Z., & Loh, X. J. (2018) · Advanced Therapeutics · doi:10.1002/adtp.201800088 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Hyaluronic acid for advanced therapies: Promises and challenges
Gallo, N., Nasser, H. A., Salvatore, L., Natali, M. L., Campa, L., Mahmoud, M., Capobianco, L., Sannino, A., & Madaghiele, M. (2019) · European Polymer Journal · doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2019.05.007 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Kumar, S., Roy, D. N., & Dey, V. (2021) · Colloids and Interface Science Communications · doi:10.1016/j.colcom.2021.100464 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Stem cell paracrine effect and delivery strategies for spinal cord injury regeneration
Veneruso, V., Rossi, F., Villella, A., Bena, A., Forloni, G., & Veglianese, P. (2019) · Journal of Controlled Release · doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2019.02.038 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Therapeutic cell encapsulation: Ten steps towards clinical translation
Santos‐Vizcaíno, E., Pedraz, J. L., Hernández, R. M., & Orive, G. (2013) · Journal of Controlled Release · doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2013.04.015 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
From Composition to Cure: A Systems Engineering Approach to Anticancer Drug Carriers
MacEwan, S. R., & Chilkoti, A. (2016) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201610819 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Blood derivatives awaken in regenerative medicine strategies to modulate wound healing
Mendes, B. B., Gómez‐Florit, M., Babo, P. S., Domingues, R. M. A., Reis, R. L., & Gomes, M. E. (2017) · Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.addr.2017.12.018 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Biomaterial–Mesenchymal Stem Cell Constructs for Immunomodulation in Composite Tissue Engineering
Hanson, S. E., D’Souza, R. N., & Hematti, P. (2014) · Tissue Engineering Part A · doi:10.1089/ten.tea.2013.0359 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Hybrid coatings on dental and orthopedic titanium implants: Current advances and challenges
Tang, W., Fischer, N. G., Kong, X., Sang, T., & Ye, Z. (2024) · BMEMat · doi:10.1002/bmm2.12105 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Spatially Controlled Photochemical Peptide and Polymer Conjugation on Biosurfaces
Tischer, T., Claus, T. K., Brüns, M., et al. (2013) · Biomacromolecules · doi:10.1021/bm401274v · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Krawiec, J. T., Liao, H.-T., Kwan, L., D’Amore, A., Weinbaum, J. S., Rubin, J. P., Wagner, W. R., & Vorp, D. A. (2016) · Journal of Vascular Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.jvs.2016.09.034 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Li, W., Midgley, A. C., Bai, Y., Zhu, M., Chang, H., Zhu, W., Wang, L., Wang, Y., Wang, H., & Kong, D. (2019) · Biomaterials · doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119488 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Battiston, K. G., Labow, R. S., Simmons, C. A., & Santerre, J. P. (2015) · Acta Biomaterialia · doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2015.05.038 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Biomaterials and regulatory science
Song, X., Tang, Z., Liu, W., et al. (2022) · Journal of Material Science and Technology · doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2022.04.018 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Smart responsive materials for antibacterial therapy: Progress, opportunities, and challenges
Fu, J., Wang, C., Liu, X., Zhu, S., Zheng, Y., Li, Z., Cui, Z., Zhang, Y., Jiang, H., Cao, Y., et al. (2025) · Progress in Materials Science · doi:10.1016/j.pmatsci.2025.101532 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Multi-modal delivery of therapeutics using biomaterial scaffolds
Browne, S., & Pandit, A. S. (2014) · Journal of Materials Chemistry B · doi:10.1039/c4tb00863d · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Biomimetic honeycomb-patterned surface as the tunable cell adhesion scaffold
Chen, S., Lü, X., Hu, Y., et al. (2014) · Biomaterials Science · doi:10.1039/c4bm00233d · Cited by 37 · see citing works
3D printing of biocomposites for osteochondral tissue engineering
Vyas, C., Poologasundarampillai, G., Hoyland, J. A., & Bártolo, P. (2017) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-100752-5.00013-5 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Translational biomaterials — the journey from the bench to the market — think ‘product’
Serban, M. A. (2016) · Current Opinion in Biotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2016.02.009 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Why regenerative medicine needs an extracellular matrix
Prestwich, G. D., & Healy, K. E. (2014) · Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy · doi:10.1517/14712598.2015.975200 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“Moreover, we maintain that all scientists should regularly re-evaluate the clinical potential for the technology product development in light of the conundrum implicit in developing cell-device combination products [4,5].”
BackgroundSelf-citationThe management of periprosthetic infections in the future
George, D. A., Gant, V. A., & Haddad, F. S. (2015) · The Bone & Joint Journal · doi:10.1302/0301-620x.97b9.35295 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Translating Regenerative Biomaterials Into Clinical Practice
Stace, E. T., Dakin, S. G., Mouthuy, P., & Carr, A. J. (2015) · Journal of Cellular Physiology · doi:10.1002/jcp.25071 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Tissue-informed engineering strategies for modeling human pulmonary diseases
Bailey, K. E., Floren, M. L., D’Ovidio, T. J., Lammers, S. R., Stenmark, K. R., & Magin, C. M. (2018) · American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajplung.00353.2018 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Gao, L., Orth, P., Cucchiarini, M., et al. (2017) · Expert Review of Medical Devices · doi:10.1080/17434440.2017.1368386 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“Besides, public regulatory guidance is necessary to provide future researchers with direction on which factors to emphasize in their preclinical study designs to best support further testing in humans and to ease the regulatory review process [101,102].”
BackgroundEngineered Biomaterials for Enhanced Function of Insulin‐Secreting β‐Cell Organoids
Hunckler, M. D., & García, A. J. (2020) · Advanced Functional Materials · doi:10.1002/adfm.202000134 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Challenges and opportunities in the manufacture and expansion of cells for therapy
Maartens, J. H., De‐Juan‐Pardo, E. M., Wunner, F. M., Simula, A., Voelcker, N. H., Barry, S. C., & Hutmacher, D. W. (2017) · Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy · doi:10.1080/14712598.2017.1360273 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Creating a Space for Innovative Device Development
McMurry-Heath, M., & Hamburg, M. A. (2012) · Science Translational Medicine · doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3005269 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Castells‐Sala, C., Recha-Sancho, L., Valldeperas, A. L., et al. (2016) · Tissue Engineering Part C Methods · doi:10.1089/ten.tec.2015.0270 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“32–34 Interestingly, by combining different materials and different cell types, it is possible to analyze different parameters.”
Thin film growth on biomaterial surfaces
Michelmore, A. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-1-78242-453-6.00002-x · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Nanoporous Silicon as a Green, High-Tech Educational Tool
Coffer, J. L., & Canham, L. (2021) · Nanomaterials · doi:10.3390/nano11020553 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Standardization and regulation of biomaterials
Ebrahimi, M. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-102967-1.00013-x · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Ren, Y., Fagette, P. H., Hall, C. L., et al. (2019) · Expert Review of Medical Devices · doi:10.1080/17434440.2019.1685869 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Dziki, J. L., & Badylak, S. F. (2019) · Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40883-019-00106-5 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Embracing simplicity in biomaterials design
Webber, M. J. (2022) · Biomaterials and Biosystems · doi:10.1016/j.bbiosy.2022.100043 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Pluchino, M., Vivarelli, L., Giavaresi, G., Dallari, D., & Govoni, M. (2025) · Journal of Functional Biomaterials · doi:10.3390/jfb16040130 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“, new materials have to undergo exhaustive in vitro/in vivo tests, which takes several additional years prior to being marketed [91].”
MacEwan, S. R., & Chilkoti, A. (2016) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.201610819 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Culture of Impact: Faculty as Mentors for Student Entrepreneurs
Prestwich, G. D. (2013) · Science Translational Medicine · doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3004488 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationRafiq, Q. A., Asencio, Í. O., Jenkins, S. I., Wilson, S. L., Patel, A. K., Barnes, A. L., Adams, C. F., Delcassian, D., & Smith, D. S. (2015) · Regenerative Medicine · doi:10.2217/rme.15.56 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Intellectual Property and Innovation in Translational Medicine
Moreno, P. G., & Joly, Y. (2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800687-0.00030-x · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Emerging supramolecular and living materials in oral medicine
Fischer, N. G., Lin, T.-Y., Xiang, Y., Sang, T., & Ye, Z. (2025) · Trends in biotechnology · doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.03.006 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Delivery, retention and engraftment of progenitor cells in cell therapy
Prestwich, G. D. (2013) · Biomatter · doi:10.4161/biom.24549 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“com Biomatter e24549-1 In a recent issue of Science Translational Medicine, a multidisciplinary group of thought leaders in the field of biomaterial research and development contributed to a collection of opinion pieces highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities involved in translating biomaterials for use i…”
Self-citationRegulatory Concern for Biomaterial and Its Toxicity
Patel, S., Sharma, S., Suthar, J. V., et al. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-91790-5_16 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Carter, S. D., Atif, A.-R., Díez-Escudero, A., Grape, M., Ginebra, M., Tenje, M., & Mestres, G. (2022) · Materials Today Bio · doi:10.1016/j.mtbio.2022.100351 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Kokorev, O. V., Khodorenko, V. N., Радкевич, А. А., et al. (2016) · Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine · doi:10.1007/s10517-016-3465-4 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Despite considerable progress in tissue engineering enabling substitution of bone, cartilage, and skin defects, many problems remain unsolved: the absence of renewable cell sources immunologically compatible with the recipient; the absence of biometarials with required mechanical, chemical, and biological properties;…”
BackgroundPorter’s Five Forces Analysis: Quo Vadis Immunotherapy Industry
Maartens, J. H., & Hutmacher, D. W. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-08191-0_31 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Dascanio, R., Souza, M. T., Cavalli, V., & Özcan, M. (2026) · Dental Materials · doi:10.1016/j.dental.2026.05.007 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Creating Commercial Value from Biomaterials
Prestwich, G. D., & Mann, B. K. (2014) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-410396-2.00015-3
Self-citationIntellectual property and innovation in translational medicine
Moreno, P. G., & Joly, Y. (2021) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-820493-1.00005-2
Less is more in the translation of dental biomaterials
Fischer, N. G., & Ye, Z. (2026) · Translational dental research. · doi:10.1016/j.tdr.2025.100062
Wang, H., Zhang, N., Xiang, H., et al. (2026) · Carbohydrate Polymers · doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2026.125764 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Prestwich, G. D., Bhatia, S., Breuer, C. K., Dahl, S. L. M., Mason, C., McFarland, R., McQuillan, D. J., Sackner-Bernstein, J., Schox, J., Tente, W. E., & Trounson, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Utah (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Nationwide Children's Hospital (US)
- Humacyte (United States) (US)
- University College London (GB)
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (US)
- Neostem, New York, NY 10170, USA.
- Schox PLC, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA.
- California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (US)
- Corresponding author
- Prestwich, Glenn D.
- Venue
- Science Translational Medicine
- Published
- 2012-11-14
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 160
- Pages
- 160cm14-160cm14
- ISSN
- 1946-6234 (ISSN-L)
- 1946-6242
- OpenAlex
- W2118265453
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science Translational Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Biomedical Ethics and Regulation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Regulation
- Keywords
- biomaterials, clinical translation, regulatory challenges, translational barriers, medical device regulation
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biocompatible Materials, Biotechnology, Humans, United States, United States Food and Drug Administration, Tissue Engineering, Translational Research, Biomedical
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review