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There is enormous interest in the worlds of medicine and esthetics in the promise of regenerative medicine. From cellular replacement techniques for treating Parkinson’s disease to collagen-producing cell injections for wound healing and rejuvenating aging skin, significant steps are being made towards the commercialization of cell therapies. These changes are going to attract major industry players who are constantly on the watch for the latest technologies in development.

Vancouver-based RepliCel Life Sciences Inc. (TSX.V: RP) is a company that is already capturing industry attention. Its unique research into cells from hair follicles could play an integral part in accelerating the repair of tendons, damaged skin and pattern baldness.

David Hall, chief executive officer of RepliCel, describes the premise behind its research as being “elegant in its simplicity.” For example, to treat chronically injured tendons, a patient’s collagen-producing cells (fibroblasts) are isolated from a small biopsy taken from the nape of the patient’s neck, replicated and then injected directly into a damaged tendon to stimulate the stalled healing process leading to structural rehabilitation.