1. History and mission

TEDD ( Tissue Engineering for Drug Developemnt and Substance Testing) was established together with the introduction of 3D cell cultures technologies to the wider audience. The center aims at fostering 3D cell culture approaches for drug development, personalized, regenerative medicine and basic science, contributing actively to key technology development and translating in vitro assays into predictive tests of clinical and pharmaceutical relevance. In order to maximize the success, cooperation of partners with complementary skills – academia, industry (in particular biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medtech and cosmetics companies) and clinics is required. TEDD community strengthen the research and business location of Switzerland and Europe by responding to key medical, pharmaceutical and societal demands. By routine application of 3D tissue models, the 3Rs initiative will be implemented by reducing, refining and replacing animal experimentation.

TEDD was initiated in 2011 by Zürich University of Applies Sciences (ZHAW) and InSphero AG and received initial funding from Gebert Ruef Foundation (BREF 2010).

TEDD integrates all relevant natural sciences and technologies in order to create in-vitro organ-like tissues for their application in medicine and pharmacology. TEDD will provide a sustainable contribution to the 3Rs initiative.

2. Organization

TEDD is guided by the steering committee that consists of experienced academic and industrial professionals. Members of steering committee meet on the regular basis to identify milestones for TEDD.

Members of steering committee:

• Prof. Dr. Michael Raghunath, ZHAW, Wädenswil
• Dr. Katharina Maniura, Empa, St. Gallen
• Dr. Jens Kelm, InSphero AG, Schlieren
• Dr. Oliver Peter, Actelion, Allschwil
• Dr. Christoph Rindlisbacher CELLnTEC, Bern

Steering committee is mentored by the international advisory board. The advisors are academic and industrial world recognized experts. The board is involved in defining well adapted strategies according to the international recognize needs and requirements with the final goal to implement 3D cell culture into routine application.

Members of advisory board:

• Dr. Markus Ehrat, EK Bioscience, Magden
• Prof. Dave W. Grainger, University of Utah, USA
• Prof. Uwe Marx, TU Berlin and TissUse GmbH, Germany
• Dr. Thomas Singer, Hoffmann-La Roche, Basel
• Prof. Marcus Textor, ETH, Zurich

Execution of goals defined by the steering committee and advisory board together with organization and administration is done by the core team.

Members of core team:

• Prof. Dr. Michael Raghunath, Head of TEDD Competence Centre
• Dr. Katarzyna Kopanska, Project Manager of TEDD Competence Centre

3. Platform members

Currently TEDD consists of 90 members from industry (59 % of total), academia (34 %), hospitals (6%) and organizations (1%). Approximately 20% are international members (mostly European) – companies and academic institutions.

Map of Swiss TEDD partners institution with 3D cell culture activities.

4. How to become partner and benefits

Professionals from various fields can join TEDD network: experts from basic, applied and clinical research, technology companies, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, medical product manufacturers, hospitals, funding associations, societies and clusters.

The membership fee is 500 CHF per year. Follow the link for more information or contact TEDD Project manager Dr. Katarzyna Kopanska. 

Partners have the opportunity to actively contribute to the TEDD platform and take advantage of the available activities. Funding applications to kick off network projects (CHF 10,000) for are assessed and approved by the steering committee. The full list of benefits for TEDD partners is presented in details below.

4.1 TEDD partner benefits:

• Priority access to TEDD events to obtain first-hand information
  The competence centre TEDD initiates and co-organizes several workshops, seminars, symposia and company visits to keep you up-to-date with the latest developments in the field of 3D cell culture and its applications. Flag conferences: Personalised Medicine Workshop in June, TEDD Annual Meeting in October, and 3D Cell Culture Symposium (Dechema).
• Professional networking and high visibility in the community
  TEDD brings together national and international business and academic partners, and provides an interactive platform to exchange information on trends in technology, applications, demands, risks and chances of advanced methodologies.
• Seed funding for new projects
  TEDD partners have the opportunity to apply for a National Thematic Network Swiss Biotech grant (CHF 10,000), funded by the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI). The aim of the seed funding is to enable interdisciplinary network projects with high innovation potential in 3D cell culture and its applications. Information on the criteria is available from TEDD on request.
• Long-term support for scientific projects
  Partners benefit from integration into larger interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with industry and academia, and participate in grant applications initiated and supported by the TEDD network (including national research programmes, national thematic networks, European projects, SNF programmes e.g. Sinergia, and applied research projects founded by the CTI).
• Communication through periodic reports
  TEDD publishes periodic reports of events on the biotechnet Switzerland and NTN Swiss Biotech platform. This gives TEDD partners the opportunity to communicate their news, and inform about their competencies and products.
• Access to technologies within the network
  Industrial partners have access to the methodologies and state-of-the-art equipment of competent academic units. TEDD also provides individual advice on how to find the most competent partner for a particular project, taking into account its concept and demands.
• Expanded market and advertisement platform
  During TEDD meetings, priority is given to partners for the presentation of their products to the 3D cell culture community. Each partner’s logo is displayed on the TEDD website to increase awareness of their competences, products and services.
• Access to selected scientific information free of charge
  Partners receive login details and a password to access scientific information, selected publications, and presentations from conferences in the 3D cell culture field.

5. New and events

For most current events, news and other information please refer to our website: www.zhaw.ch/icbc/tedd.