Taiga Biotechnologies may wipe out blood banks as we know them. The Aurora, Colorado-based startup has developed and licensed stem-cell technologies that can grow an almost limitless supply of red blood cells. If they work (and it’s looking likely) the technologies could be used to provide blood where it's needed the most--ambulances and disaster sites, for instance. Eventually, they could even replace some or all of the 39,000 units of blood transfused into patients every day.
And so far, Taiga has done it without venture capital.
How? The answer lies along Montview Boulevard, an unassuming stretch of Aurora road, with a golf course next door and distant views of the mountains to the west. On Montview’s south side, cranes are building a new Veterans Administration hospital on the 217-acre Anschutz Medical Campus, home to the University of Colorado Cancer Center, University of Colorado Medical School, and other academic and research buildings. On Montview’s north side, cranes are adding to the Fitzsimons Life Sciences District, a 160-acre bioscience park that some call an industry incubator and others call a garage. Literally, Montview is the dividing line between academia and industry, and it’s across this line that Taiga and an increasing cohort of academic researchers with companies strapped to their backs, spend their afternoons.
To read the full, original article click on this link: How A Colorado Town's Med-Tech Startups Thrive On Shoestring Budgets, Stem Cells | Fast Company
