Mesoblast, an Australian company, has received Australian Institutional ethics approval to begin the first human adult stem cell trial to test a treatment for prevention of knee osteoarthritis after an acute traumatic knee injury.
The randomised, placebo-controlled, Phase 2 clinical trial design will evaluate whether Mesoblast's allogenic adult stem cell product, RepliCart, can slow or prevent the development of knee osteoarthritis after reconstruction of a ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL).
Mesoblast was established in 2004 to develop therapies for patients with bone and joint diseases. The company acquired the worldwide license to commercialize orthopaedic applications of proprietary adult stem cell technology developed by scientists at South Australia's Hanson Institute and Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science. Its technology is based on precise identification and efficient isolation of a population of adult mesenchymal precursor cells (MPC) found at various sites throughout the body.
Angioblast Systems, Inc. is a private New York City-based biotechnology company committed to the development of treatments for cardiac, vascular, and eye conditions. Mesoblast has acquired 39.2% equity in Angioblast Systems. Mesoblast refers to Angioblast Systems as it's U.S. "sister company" and notes on its website that in combination with Angioblast it has commenced Phase 2 clinical trials in the United States to examine the safety and efficacy of allogeneic (derived from universal donors and used in unrelated recipients) Mesenchymal Precursor Cells. This is interesting because it sounds very much like what Osiris Therapeutics has done using mesenchymal stem cells for GvHD and Crohn's Disease. In both of these cases, Osiris is in Phase III clinical trials.
Osiris has patents on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) obtained from bone marrow. Angioblast has a patent that covers a method of preparing mesenchymal precursor cells by selecting for cells that express the marker STRO-1. Interestingly, this patent apparently does not refer to a source for the MSCs, which raises a question about overlap with the Osiris patent.
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