Just two months after officially relocating to Winston-Salem, N.C., PepGel is already making itself a critical partner in the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine (PTRME). As a key player in NC regenerative medicine, PepGel now offers its innovative hybrid PGmatrix hydrogels in the Test Bed at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM).

The company’s commercially available PGmatrix hydrogels mimic the human extracellular matrix. With a 4D model that incorporates time, they allow cells to grow physiologically, self-organize, and develop into 3D colonies, organoids, and tissues that meet NC regenerative medicine standards.

Beyond their ability to support advanced cell growth, PGmatrix hydrogels offer several additional benefits, including:

• Cytocompability with primary cells and cell lines, including normal, cancer, stem and suspension cells
• User-friendly handling for cell encapsulation, plating, and isolation
• Support for spheroid formation, dome and sheet plating
• Use cases in drug discovery, disease modeling, stem cell research, tissue engineering and in vivo delivery

By relocating to Sparq Labs in Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter, PepGel has strategically positioned itself to contribute to the PTRME and the broader biotechnology ecosystem. The relocation enhances collaboration, accelerates research, and reduces reliance on animal and human resources.

According to founder and CEO Susan Sun, the decision to relocate was strategic.

“PepGel relocated from Manhattan, Kansas, to Winston-Salem, NC, to leverage the region’s thriving biotechnology environment – particularly WFIRM and the PTRME ecosystem – which offers high-profile networking opportunities and strong support for small business growth within the regenerative medicine community.”  

By joining leading NC regenerative medicine institutions, PepGel is advancing research in tissue engineering and cell-based therapies.