We build on a strong academic foundation in kidney engineering
Kidney Engineering is a multidisciplinary field that brings together stem cell and developmental biologists, engineers, physicians and surgeons to build living therapeutics with higher level function.
We build on two decades of work providing peer reviewed proof of concept from small animal to human scale, from primary to allogeneic to hypoimmune cells and from simple structural components to advanced functions such as gas exchange, blood filtration, and reabsorption.
2024
Expansion and Focus: IVIVA's New Facility and Full-Scale Graft Creation
In 2024, IVIVA moved to its new facility in Medford, MA minutes from the academic and biotech epicenters in Boston and Cambridge.
Over the course of the year IVIVA is nearly doubling its team, all focused on creating full scale autologous renal grafts.
2023
Focus Shift: Towards Autologous Renal Grafts and Acquisition by United Therapeutics
In 2023, because of substantial progress in deriving the necessary renal cell types from induced pluripotent stem cells, IVIVA’s team began to focus all its R&D efforts on developing autologous renal grafts from patient derived cells. Autologous grafts may not require immunosuppression and could enable multiple repeated treatments if necessary.
Towards the end of 2023, IVIVA was acquired by United Therapeutics.
KidneyX Prize
IVIVA Medical Wins KidneyX Prize for Advanced Organ Therapeutics to Cure Renal Failure
2022
IVIVA's Breakthrough: Successful Large Animal Survival Trial
By the end of 2022, the team completed the first large animal survival trial, and provided proof of concept that IVIVA’s grafts can be implanted without negative consequences for the recipient animal.
2021
First Proof of Concept: Biologic Filtration
From 2019 to 2021, IVIVA’s team developed protocols to isolate primary cells from discarded donor organs, and to repopulate TFI scaffolds with human cells to achieve higher level functions such as filtration and reabsorption.
We developed a technology to achieve blood purification in a cellular membrane-based device, biologic blood purification.
IVIVA’s team continued operations through the COVID pandemic and achieved proof of concept of biologic filtration in larger scale devices in short term non survival large animal experiments.
2019
Seed Round and Team Expansion
In 2019, the company raised its first seed round and expanded to a team of 5 scientists and engineers to develop this technology as a potential treatment for end stage renal disease.
IVIVA’s team developed a technology to repopulate TFI scaffolds with human primary cells to achieve blood purification for renal replacement.
By the end of 2019, IVIVA’s team achieved first proof of concept showing perfusability of small-scale devices in a short term non survival large animal test.
Biologic Blood Purification: Proof of Concept
With this encouraging data in hand, we raised another funding round, and IVIVA established its first independent R&D facility in Woburn, MA.
Our team grew to 15 scientists and engineers enabling improvements on our foundational technologies and adding new capabilities in necessary cell types from patient derived induced pluripotent stem cells.
2017
Breakthrough: Thin Film Interposition Scaffolding
By 2017, IVIVA’s team had developed a novel scaffolding technology called thin film interposition (TFI).
This technology allowed us to overcome the resolution limitations of conventional additive manufacturing and enabled us to create human scale organ scaffolds integrating micro and macroscale features.
2015
Kidney Engineering Initiatives at North Shore Innoventures
In early 2015, the company established a small lab at North Shore Innoventures in Beverly, MA, and initiated work on kidney engineering.
The early focus of the company was on developing bioreactor and organ culture systems, while exploring various technologies to manufacture organ scaffolds.
2014
IVIVA: Fundraising and Strategy
IVIVA leadership focused on fundraising and strategy development.
2013
IVIVA Medical: A Renal Tissue Engineering Spinout
IVIVA was founded in 2013 as a spinout of Mass General and Harvard Medical School after successful engineering of renal tissue was reported.