London researchers enroll first Canadian patients in trial of tissue implant using patients' own cartilage cells

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Dr. Alan Getgood and his team at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute are the first in Canada to participate in an investigative trial to determine the safety and efficacy of using a patient’s own cartilage cells to repair knee cartilage injuries.

Dr. Alan Getgood and his team at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute are the first in Canada to participate in an investigative trial to determine the safety and efficacy of using a patient’s own cartilage cells to repair knee cartilage injuries.

The clinical trial is evaluating a tissue implant called NeoCart®, developed by Histogenics, a U.S. based regenerative-medicine company focused on developing and commercializing musculoskeletal products. The cartilage-like tissue implant is made from a patient’s own cartilage cells.

The Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic, supported by Western University and London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), is the first practice in Canada to enrol patients into this multi-centre study.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for Canadian patients to be potentially treated with cutting-edge technology that they otherwise would not have access to,” said Dr. Getgood, an assistant professor at Western’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry; scientist with Western’s Bone & Joint Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute; and sports medicine surgeon at LHSC.

 

Continue reading at University of Western Ontario.

Photo via University of Western Ontario.