Introducing Tissue Therapeutics

Tissue Therapeutics promises life-changing outcomes for individuals grappling with diseased or damaged organs, potentially offering life-saving solutions.

While solid organ cells hold immense therapeutic promise, the field has long been hampered by challenges in scaling synthetic tissues and ensuring their successful integration within the body's environment. At Satellite Bio, we thrive on overcoming such challenges with ingenuity and perseverance, positioning our technology uniquely to unleash the full potential of Tissue Therapeutics.

Based on more than two decades of collaborative research in tissue technology, biology and bioengineering, and with an exceptional understanding of liver biology, our experienced team at Satellite is poised to deliver on the promise of Tissue Therapeutics for advanced liver disease and beyond, establishing Tissue Therapeutics as a new pillar of regenerative medicine.

Why it matters

Addressing the Unmet Needs of Advanced Liver Disease

Individuals suffering from advanced liver disease face dire challenges as chronic scarring impairs the liver’s vital functions, leading to severe consequences. Despite the urgency of the situation, treatment options have stagnated, with liver transplant remaining the sole curative measure. 

Complicated by low donor organ availability and high surgical complexity and risk, transplant is not a realistic option for more than 85% of patients who need one.

With Tissue Therapeutics, we are unlocking the full potential of hepatocytes as medicine to address the needs of patients grappling with advanced liver disease.

Our Breakthrough

Like an infused tissue transplant, our Tissue Therapeutics are made of powerful cells that are delivered into the body where they engraft and vascularize, acting like a mini “satellite” organ that boosts or restores the functions of a damaged or diseased liver.

At the core of our approach, we are programming solid organ cells and assembling them into Tissue Seeds – precise ensembles of therapeutically active hepatocyte cells combined with supporting cells – that are introduced into the patient to take over or augment the functions that are failing within an organ.


Upon transplanting into the patient's body, these Tissue Seeds rapidly spur the growth of new blood vessels, integrating with the patient's circulation and enabling the delivery of therapeutic benefits remotely from the affected liver.


By augmenting the residual capacity of the damaged liver, our Tissue Therapeutics have the potential to help people avoid the devastating consequences of advanced liver disease.

Hepatocyte Expansion

Satellite Bio’s expansion technology enables scalable manufacturing of well-characterized, uniform therapeutic liver cells.

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Seed Formation

Satellite Bio’s proprietary aggregation configuration enables expanded hepatocytes to attain optimal functional levels.

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Industrialized Fabrication

Advanced manufacturing capabilities enables scalable cell production.

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Building on two decades of research

Tissue Therapeutics as a revolutionary category of regenerative medicine is based on more than two decades of collaborative research in tissue technology, biology and bioengineering. Building on the work of Dr. Robert Langer and others, Satellite Bio’s founders, Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia and Dr. Christopher Chen, along with Dr. Arnav Chhabra, laid the groundwork for advancing Tissue Therapeutics.

  1. 1999

    Hepatocyte Stabilization

    Drs. Bhatia et al. demonstrated, for the first time, in vitro stabilization of parenchymal cells by means of stromal cell co-culture, as demonstrated by long-term albumin secretion by hepatocytes. 

    Impact: This work from Satellite Bio co-founder, Dr. Bhatia, established that engineering a combination of functional and support cells allows for superior stabilization of cell phenotype compared to previous methods that used a random mixture of cells. The discovery that the interaction between cell types is what is critical provided the foundation for future work to hone heterocellular aggregation, a concept that underlies Satellite Bio’s approach to Tissue Therapeutics. 

  2. 2011

    First In Vivo POC of Ectopic Liver Implants

    Drs. Chen et al. developed the first in vivo mouse model based on the implantation of tissue-engineered human liver, which demonstrated persistence, vascularization, and functional performance for more than three months. 

    Impact: Through a collaborative effort between the labs of co-founders Drs. Bhatia and Chen, this in vivo model in healthy mice achieved the first proof-of-concept for Tissue Therapeutics, demonstrating that remotely placed engineered liver tissues and the host liver can cooperate, promoting persistence and function. This foundational work enabled future research to advance our understanding of this technology and its applications. 

  3. 2013

    Enhanced Engineered Tissue Integration and Function

    Drs. Baranski et al. used an improved pro-vascular methodology in vivo to demonstrate substantially greater hepatic survival and function, as well as host vascular ingrowth. 

    Impact: This research built on the 2011 findings and demonstrated the critical importance of vascularization to optimize the functional impact of Tissue Therapeutics.

  4. 2017

    First Validation in Disease Models of the Liver

    Using enhanced methodologies in mouse models with acute and chronic liver diseases, engineered tissues demonstrated improved vascularization and liver-specific functions. Specifically, tissues containing patterned human primary hepatocytes, endothelial cells, and stromal cells in a degradable hydrogel expanded more than 50-fold over the course of 11 weeks in mice with injured livers. There was a concomitant increase in graft function as indicated by the production of multiple human liver proteins.

    Impact:     Building on the 2011 work in healthy mice, these preclinical findings demonstrated for the first time that remotely placed engineered tissue – or a Satellite – was a viable approach to treat acute and chronic diseases of the liver. These results, coupled with the significant morbidity and mortality of liver conditions, led Satellite Bio to identify elusive diseases of the liver as an initial opportunity for Tissue Therapeutics.

A Complete History

View our timeline of research

Explore critical milestones from two decades of collaborative research in tissue technology, biology and bioengineering that have lead to Tissue Therapeutics, a revolutionary new category of regenerative medicine.

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Here’s the proof

News
Learn about our platform

The deliberate design and delivery of Satellite Adaptive Tissues makes Tissue Therapeutics different than other treatment approaches. Learn more about what makes us unique.

The SAT Platform