Driving meniscus health forward

The MEFISTO consortium brings a set of highly motivated partners together, chosen specifically for their expertise to advance the project’s iterative approach and impact on novel orthopaedic approaches.

Over the next five years, Geistlich Pharma AG, a leading company in tissue regeneration, and Humanitas University, a prominent international higher education institution dedicated to clinical and translational research, will coordinate the MEFISTO project with the help of SCIPROM Sàrl. The data for the meniscus implant design will be prepared by Universiteit Antwerpen and Universitätsklinikum Regensburg. Together with Universitair Medisch Centrum Utrecht, they will perform pre-clincal evaluation which includes establishing in-vitro testing protocols to assess implant performance as well as selecting appropriate in-vivo animal models to evaluate effectiveness of the different implants. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Napoli will be responsible for design, preparation and characterization of bio-ink and scaffold. Universidad de Santiago de Compostela will provide their expertise in nanoparticles, growth factors and anti-inflammatory molecules loading and incorporation in the scaffold, and Tissue Click Ltd. will lead the functionalisation and scaffold characterisation by contributing their peptide technology. Cell culture conditions, evaluation of cell migration and cell viability will be performed by Établissement français du sang. A non-resorbable meniscus implant with drug delivery capabilities will be developed by Active Implants. The MEFISTO exploitation strategy will be developed through interaction with stakeholders, supported by an assessment of Key Performance Indicators delivered by Orthokey Italia S.r.l. and a health economic analysis performed by AiM GmbH. The health economic analysis includes the review of data from existing treatment options, design and programming of a health economic model and running the analysis.
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Geistlich Biomaterials Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH - Project Coordinator- is an affiliate Company of Geistlich Pharma AG operating in Germany. It is fully owned by Geistlich Pharma AG but it has business and financial autonomy and employs 40 people.

Geistlich Pharma AG is headquartered in Switzerland. Entirely family owned since 1851, the company develops, produces, and markets medical devices for regenerative medicine and pharmaceuticals. Geistlich produces innovative bio-derived matrix products for bone and cartilage in orthopedics and for bone and soft tissue in dentistry. Our products leverage the body’s own healing potential to regenerate bone and cartilage as well as soft tissue. Our focus is on helping people maintain and regain their quality of life.
Evelyne Hasler
David Wemans
Carla Zihlmann
Niklaus Stiefel
Ralf Diener
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Humanitas University is an international higher education institution dedicated to basic and translational research, combined Humanitas Research Hospital, a 750 bed hospital devoted to clinical research.

Research activities are carried out by 350 researchers and physicians. The Functional and Biologic Knee reconstruction Center, led by Prof Marcacci and Prof Kon, is a clinical and research unit with extensive experience on preclinical and clinical studies on advanced technologies for joint regeneration and on meniscal transplantation.

International reference center for the demonstration of innovative orthopaedic procedures in Europe.
Elizaveta Kon
Maurilio Marcacci
Nicoló Vitale
Laura Lovato
Monica Di Meglio
Aldo Ummarino
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The Department of Trauma Surgery (clinic) and Laboratory for Experimental Trauma Surgery (research) at University Medical Centre Regensburg, conduct both clinical and basic research, specifically on cartilage, tendon/ligament, bone and the meniscus.

Our team has been involved in various preclinical and clinical trials for cartilage and meniscus regenerative medicine products. The lab is located in the BioPark Regensburg site that includes research labs from both the University and scientific companies, enabling collaborations and access to a variety of facilities.
Prof. Peter Angele
Prof. Johannes Zellner
Prof. Denitsa Docheva
Dr. Girish Pattappa
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TC is an SME and a registered company in England and Wales (No. 07875242). TC’s main business is the R&D and commercialisation of a portfolio of products, based on a synthetic biomaterial platform, that mimic a range of macromolecules and microenvironments present in tissues.

The development of functionalised dendrimers described in MEFISTO matches and enhances TC’s experience and expertise.
Professor Matteo Santin
Dr. Anna Guildford
Dr. Gary Phillips
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The University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) is ranked among the top 10 Spanish universities (Scimago index) and the top 500 universities worldwide (Shanghai classification). Prof. Alonso leads the Nanopharmaceuticals Lab located at the Institute of Research in Molecular Medicine (CiMUS). The main goal of the Nanopharmaceuticals Lab is the advancement of fundamental understanding of the interaction of nanomaterials with biological barriers and development of new delivery technologies for the treatment of various diseases. Currently, the lab is involved in different European and international projects on the topic of cancer, vaccines (HIV and Diabetes vaccine), neurological disorders (Alzheimer disease and multiple sclerosis), and regenerative medicine (MEFISTO project). Within the context of this project, the role of Prof. Alonso’s Lab is the formulation of growth factors and anti-inflammatory molecules for meniscus regeneration or replacement.
María José Alonso
Anna Abbadessa
Jose Crecente-Campo
Fernando Torres Andon
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The Antwerp Surgical Training, Anatomy and Research Centre (ASTARC) is a multidisciplinary research team of the Medical faculty of the University of Antwerp, that incorporates fundamental, clinical and translational research activities.

Vision Lab (UAntwerpen) is a research lab at the Department of Physics of the University of Antwerp specialised in digital image processing and pattern recognition.

Their research has been applied in several medical areas and product development.
Prof. Dr. Peter Verdonk
Dr. Annemieke Van Haver
Prof. Dr. Jan Sijbers
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The Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials - National Research Council (IPCB-CNR-www.ipcb.cnr.it) was founded in 2013 by the aggregation of the Institute of Polymer Chemistry & Technology (ICTP) and the Institute of Composite and Biomedical Materials (IMCB).

The activities include: synthesis, functionalization and characterization of materials for tissue engineering; Use of advanced processing technologies for regenerative medicine.
Luigi Ambrosio
Alfredo Ronca
Ugo D’Amora
Maria Grazia Raucci
Roberta Marzella
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ORTHOKEY ITALIA is an SME founded in 2005 certified ISO 13485 for medical device design, production and commercialization since 2017.

Its mission is to deploy a set of innovative solutions for Computer Aided Surgery procedures based on integration of clinical knowledge, usability and new surgical tools.

Orthokey has been involved in several orthopaedic and biomedical product development, product marketing and sales, and research programs.

In the research field, Orthokey supports and promotes multicentre clinical studies involving opinion leaders for different surgical application domains, thanks to the active collaboration with different international clinical research centres.
Cristiano Paggetti
Andrea Inzitari
Simone Bignozzi
Laura Nofrini
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EFS (Etablissement Français du Sang) is the only blood transfusion operator in France. In addition to the transfusion activity, EFS integrates research activities, in particular in the fields of transfusion and cell and tissue engineering activities within 18 research teams.

Among them, EFS’s research group based in Créteil (near Paris) has initiated a work on Bone Tissue Engineering ten years ago. They already participated in different European project (CASCADE, REBORNE, OrthoUnion and Maxibone) to develop advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) and to develop new clinical trials in collaboration with orthopedic and maxillofacial surgeons from Créteil University Hospital. The aims were to produce MSCs at GMP level and to develop the cellularization of various existing inert scaffolds (commercially available). We now are developing an original approach using single-cell RNAseq technology to study the cell and scaffold interactions of new 3D bioprinting products developed. Due to its 10 years of experience in meniscal engineering, the EFS research group based in Brest will also contribute to this work.
Pascal Delépine
Nathalie Chevalier
Hélène Rouard
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Active Implants develops orthopaedic implants that complement the natural biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system, allowing patients to return to active lifestyle.

The company’s main focus is to provide clinical validation for the NUsurface® Meniscus Implant – the first “artificial meniscus” designed to replace a damaged or deteriorating one.

The meniscus implant received CE Mark in 2008. For the last 13 years, Active Implants is focusing in the development of the mentioned implant, from which 10 years were dedicated to clinical studies in Europe, Israel and the US.

The company also conducted an extensive set of non-clinical studies and animal trials serving as the scientific background of their products.
Dr. Eran (Linder) Ganz
Maoz Shemesh
Daniel Anavi
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AiM is a privately held company specializing in support of market access and reimbursement over the last 10 years.

AiM offers solutions for questions in healthcare, quality and financing for all parties in the life sciences sector including government organizations, NGOs and privately held companies.

A major focus is Health Economics & Outcomes Research, specifically in Value Demonstration, HTA, Health Economic Modelling and Evaluation.
Michael Weisser
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UMCU is one of the largest academic centres in the Netherlands (>1000 beds; >11000 employees).

Patient care and biomedical research are closely linked, quickly moving scientific progresses from bench to bedside.

UMCU develops patient-centred regenerative medicine and performs high-quality biomedical research.
Prof. Jos Malda
Dr. Riccardo Levato
Dr. Lucienne Vonk
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Founded in 2005, SCIPROM is an SME specialised in the management of collaborative research projects.

SCIPROM supports coordinators from the first project idea to the final report, in project set-up, negotiation, management and communication.

At present, SCIPROM has 7 employees.
Dr. Kirsten Leufgen
Dr. Peter Ulrich
Filippo Gander
Dominique Stücker
Véronique Gobry

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 814444 (MEFISTO).