The consortium made up of the Blood and Tissue Bank (BST), the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) and IQS Barcelona has successfully performed the first vascular graft of biological origin, known as VASCRAFT, as a therapeutic and innovative alternative for coronary bypass in patients with coronary disease.

The VASCRAFT project, formed by a multidisciplinary team of experts in areas of specialization such as cell biology, biotechnology, chemical engineering, industrial engineering and medicine, aims to develop a biological substitute of human origin to be used as a revascularization graft in coronary bypass surgeries.

After obtaining the decellularized human vascular graft from saphenous veins of cadaveric donors from the BST and subsequent recellularization, the VASCRAFT project, formed by a multidisciplinary team of experts in areas of specialization such as cell biology, biotechnology, chemical engineering, industrial engineering and medicine, aims to develop a biological substitute of human origin to be used as a revascularization graft in coronary bypass surgeries.

After obtaining the decellularized human vascular graft from saphenous veins of cadaveric donors from the BST and the subsequent recellularization of the graft to re-form endothelium from human cells (umbilical cord blood stem cells obtained from the BST), researchers from the ICREC Group (Heart Failure and Cardiac Surgery of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital (HUGTiP), both from the Heart Institute (iCor) of the HUGTiP, have successfully applied the first VASCRAFT graft in a porcine preclinical model.

In addition, iCor will also carry out all the safety and feasibility analysis of the constructs manufactured between BST and IQS.

The development of this innovative advanced therapy product will represent a solution with great scientific, social and economic impact, as it is a very new strategy to solve the current problems arising from coronary revascularizations in the same patients, with good availability and decreasing costs for the healthcare system.