Newsletter April 2022 – Progress in Cline’s cell lab and in the stem cell therapy field
Spring has arrived in Gothenburg, and the Cline is excited to bring you some exciting news and updates from our team
The first stage of Ex-vivo testing completed
Early this month, Cline announced that the first stage of our ex-vivo experiments was carried out with encouraging performance. This newsletter will take a deeper look at what's happening in our labs and what these tests mean for StemCART.
These experiments, which began in January 2022, are an important milestone for the StemCART project and will push the project into the next development stage. In these tests, Cline has several aims; 1) demonstrate that the matrix developed by Cline successfully functions, 2) the successful differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into functional chondrocytes (cartilage cells), and 3) to show induced healing of the injured cartilage tissue.
To achieve this, Cline has been collaborating with orthopedic surgeons and a hospital to collect cartilage tissue from patients undergoing surgery. Cline then takes this tissue from the hospital to our cell labs. At the lab we induce an artificial cartilage damage to mimic joint injuries before implanting the cells and matrix together at the injury site.
In this first stage of testing, the supporting matrix demonstrated the expected functionality in successfully fixing cells to the area of interest.
Read more about this in our latest press release or where Cline was recently featured on ORTHOWORLD.
Next steps for StemCART
The ex-vivo tests continues and Cline will carry out at least 24 further experiments in several stages. The results from these will be communicated after the completion of each stage. The upcoming stage of 10 experiments will test a higher cell concentration and focus on determining the functionality of the chondrocytes. Testing will also be expanded to include tissue of different cartilage origin, such as knee, shoulder, and hip.
StemCART’s ultimate vision is as a cell-based Advanced Therapy Medical Product (ATMP) that will revolutionize the treatment of cartilage damage by providing patients with new functional cartilage and curing the condition, thus eliminating pain. StemCART provides several advantages over other therapy strategies such as autologous chondrocytes implantation and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in that it provides reparative cartilage to the joint, and that an allogeneic cell source has much better scalability.
As part of the journey to this goal, Cline will continue preparing for in-human clinical trials, including scaling up production in a GMP facility together with partners, developing QA/QC methods, as well as the necessary safety testing and documentation for a clinical trial application. Cline has begun this work by evaluating different development and manufacturing options and engaging in regulatory pathway strategic planning activities.
Cline envisions out-licensing StemCART to a commercial partner following successful phase I trials. The process to identify and engage potential partners is ongoing, with the aim of generating interest in the commercialization of StemCART.
Exciting industry news and developments
2022 has already been an exciting year in the world of stem cell-based therapy and cartilage repair, showing the increasing interest and potential paradigm shift towards cell-based treatment. For example in the MSC segment, the Lund-based company Xintela recently began its first-in-human clinical trial for mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in knee osteoarthritis (OA). Similarly, Cynata Therapeutics, working with iPSC-derived MSCs to treat knee OA, together with Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, is currently conducting a large phase III trial. For more insights into the current landscape of cartilage repair treatments and current status of new cell-based treatments, you can read Cline Scientific’s latest publication, “Insights into the present and future of cartilage regeneration and joint repair,” available at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/Cartilage_Repair.
Another leap forward for iPSC-derived tissue therapy is the conclusion of a world-first clinical trial, showing that implanting iPSC-derived corneal tissue into four nearly blind patients was safe and effective. The team from Osaka University used iPS cells to create the cornea tissue, which caused improvement of symptoms and eyesight and did not lead to any rejection or tumorigenicity.
Finally, in related orthopedic industry news, Bioventus acquired its partner CartiHeal for up to 450M USD. CartiHeal is an orthopedic device company that has developed the cartilage repair implant Agili-C, which was recently approved by the FDA. Agili-C is a cell-free scaffold implant for cartilage and osteochondral defects caused by either osteoarthritis or trauma.
We look forward to continuing to share Cline’s journey in future newsletters!
Warmest regards,
The Cline Team
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About Cline Scientific
Cline Scientific develops advanced cancer diagnostics and regenerative medicine treatments. The company is working heavily with R&D through joint collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers around the world. The focus is on projects in the cancer diagnostic and stem cell therapy fields since Clines nanotechnology here provides unmet solutions to critical challenges and functions. The unique patented surface nanotechnology is used in cell-based products and processes to drive projects within Life Science into and through the clinical phase.