Statistics don’t usually make for very exciting blog fodder, but they can be useful in charting progress. Case in point, the recent quarterly report from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), a global advocate and industry group for the field.

In the report ARM takes an in-depth look at cell therapy, gene therapy, tissue engineering and other trends in the regenerative medicine field.

Among the more notable findings are:

• Companies in the regenerative medicine space collectively raised more than $4.1 billion in the second quarter of this year, up 164 percent over the same period in 2017.
• Companies focused on cell therapy raised $2.2 billion, up 416 percent over the same period last year.
• More and more companies in the space are turning to the public markets. So far this year they collectively raised $913.4 million in IPOs (initial public offerings – the very first sale of a company’s stock to the public), up from $254 million during all of last year.
• Nearly 977 clinical trials testing such therapies are in progress across the globe; more than half of them are trying to treat cancer.

In a news release, Janet Lynch Lambert, ARM’s CEO, was understandably upbeat:

“There has been a tremendous amount of forward momentum during the first half of this year, both clinically and commercially. We’re excited for the continued growth of the regenerative medicine sector, and what it means for patients worldwide.”