That some academics don’t necessarily make good business executives is a well-worn fact. And it’s not uncommon that founders — researchers or otherwise — often step aside, or are sometimes jettisoned in the interest of the firm.But the question is how should founders behave when they are cut off from the company they created? Is [...]

There’s never a dull day at Miromatrix. In the past month, the Glencoe, Minnesota biotech company has moved into a new custom-designed laboratory and welcomed a two-term Minnesota governor to its board of directors, all while working on a two-year time line for the launch of its first product.You probably know Miromatrix as the University [...]

Sometimes amazing feats of scientific research get all the attention, but the actual process of creating a company from that research and developing a product is rarely that glitzy.Take the case of Miromatrix Medical Inc., the Eden Prairie, Minnesota company trying to become a viable business by commercializing the stunning science of Dr. Doris Taylor, [...]

Founders of companies often clash with CEOs hired to operate the business. But at Miromatrix Medical, a Minnesota company spun out of the University of Minnesota, it happened with lightning speed.By all accounts, Miromatrix has the potential to revolutionize human disease management.The company was spun out of the “U” in December 2009 and formally set [...]

The University of Minnesota said Wednesday that its researchers have successfully repaired damaged skin tissue using stem cells gleaned from bone marrow.In a study published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the school’s Stem Cell Institute said the therapy can help patients who suffer from recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a [...]

Apparently, growing rat organs is the latest rage these days.Just weeks after researchers at the University of Minnesota medical school said they grew breathing rat lungs in a laboratory, a team from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University announced they not only grew rat lungs but also implanted the organs into rats.The lungs worked for [...]

Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-St. Paul) has good reason to feel a fresh spring in his step these days.He helped pass long overdue tax credits for angel investors and research and development spending, a feat that earned him a prime spot (second from the left) behind Gov. Tim Pawlenty when the presumed Republican presidential candidate signed [...]

First a beating rat’s heart. Now breathing rat’s lungs.The way the University of Minnesota is going, a liver, kidney and pancreas can’t be far behind.Researchers at the Masonic Cancer Center and medical school said Monday it has grown breathing lungs from a rat in laboratory, the second time in two years the university has achieved [...]

University of Minnesota tech transfer officials have spoken about the “Big One,” a blockbuster technology that would create or upend an industry while earning the school a hefty return for its efforts.There’s Miromatrix Inc., which hopes to grow organs from stem cells, and VitalMedix Inc., a startup developing a drug to keep alive patients suffering [...]

Not to sound paranoid … but …Just when you think Minnesota has turned the corner in stimulating high-tech innovation, the nagging pest otherwise known as the budget has once again reared its ugly head. And it’s not pretty.Just weeks after Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill that established the Minnesota’s first angel tax credits, the [...]