Venture capital investors are pouring money in to regenerative medicine.According to a report from Goldman Sachs, venture capital in companies pursuing regenerative medicine has increased from $296 million in 2011 to $807 million in 2016, growing roughly 34% year-over-year."We see Regenerative Medicine as one of the most compelling areas for venture investment," the report said.Goldman Sachs defines regenerative medicine as approachesthat grow cells or tissue from stem cells, treatments that promote regeneration, or transplantsusing organs or tissue that's grown outside the body.These types of treatments ' if they work ' could revolutionize how we age, potentially helping humans live healthier lives longer.By the report'scount, 80 regenerative medicine companies received funding in the last three years.And the deals related to regenerative medicine accounted for almost half of the top venture capitaldeals in 2015 and 2016.Goldman Sachs highlighted a few companies that received large sums infunding in the past few years. They include Samumed,a $12 billion private biotech startupthat wants to regenerate hair, skin, bones, and joints, and Unity Biotechnology, which is working on treatments that act on senescent cells. These are cells that have permanently stopped dividing that have been linked to conditions as varied as heart conditions and eye problems.The report also highlighted BlueRock Therapeutics, a startup spun out of pharmaceutical company Bayer with $225 million in fundingto treat diseases with induced pluripotent stem cells to regenerate heart muscle as well as treatments for Parkinson's disease."We believe companies backed by academic pioneers ...or those with novel platforms ...are likely to garner the largest investments and valuations," the report said.The promise and pitfalls ofregenerative medicineOver the past few decades, researchers have made strides to understand more about stem cells and regeneration. There have been a number of setbacks, and there's no guarantee this new wave of companies won't fail as well. Still, researchers are optimistic."If you hit any one of these, you're going to be helping literally tens of millions of people,"Dr. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Astellas Institute of Regenerative Medicine, told Business Insider.Astellas is working on treatments for blindness using stem cells. To make that or other treatments a reality, Lanza is pulling together leaders and scientists in the regenerative-medicine world to stack the deck in hisfavor. "We're in a good position to make a difference," he said.Goldman Sachsfound a number of challenges facing regenerative medicine as well. Beyond the complexity of how cells work that could keep an idea and early research from becoming a reality, there are also ethical concerns to consider."Ethical issues such as the use of human derived embryo stem cells, the potential risks of enrolling humans in experimental stem cell studies and development of human-animal chimeras to generate organs, will also need to be addressed and resolved as the field of regenerative medicine advances," the report said.SEE ALSO:'The outlier thing didn't work out' ' Biotech CEOs reflect on Theranos' impact on the industryDON'T MISS:A new kind of doctor's office charges a monthly fee and doesn't take insurance ' and it could be the future of medicineJoin the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: A $2.5 trillion asset manager just put a statue of a defiant girl in front of the Wall Street bull
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