Growing Cartilage Tissue to Repair Knees

An innovative cell-based therapy aims to be the first product to achieve lasting repair of full-thickness cartilage defects.

ChondroCelect, under development by TiGenix (Leuven, Belgium), is an innovative cell-based therapy. It is used for durable repair of cartilage defects of the knee by adding a unique and easily applicable quality control assay to autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI), a surgical procedure to treat cartilage defects by using the patient's own cells. TiGenix believes this product will increase the success rate of the standard ACI procedure, as it is based on implanting only cell populations with a predictable and consistent hyaline cartilage-forming ability in vivo. Ultimately the goal is to stop the gliding scale of cartilage degeneration and to prevent the progression to osteoarthritis.

ChondroCelect is based on the discovery of molecular markers that are used to improve the selection, characterization, and expansion of cartilage-forming cell populations and to grow only those cells that are capable of forming stable cartilage when implanted into the knee joint. The cartilage formed resembles natural cartilage and is resistant to the formation of new bone and blood vessels. TiGenix is finishing its phase III clinical trial in Europe for ChondroCelect. Eventual use is proposed for patients between 18 and 50 years who have had a recent cartilage injury to the knee, and have continued to have pain, swelling, and mechanical problems.

ACI consists of a two-step procedure. In the first procedure, a small cartilage biopsy is taken via arthroscopy from a lesser weight-bearing portion of the affected joint, and the cells are enzymatically released from the cartilage tissue and cultured for growth. After approximately four to five weeks of cell culture, the surgeon debrides the defect back to healthy borders, and the cultured cells are implanted. The defect is sealed with either a collagen membrane or a periosteal flap.



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