Date: 2014-03-12
Type of information:
phase: preclinical
Announcement: presentation of preclinical results at American Academy of Orthopedic \' Annual Meeting
Company: Pluristem Therapeutics (Israel)
Product: PLX-PAD Cells (Placental eXpanded cells)
Action mechanism: PLX-PAD is a cell-based product made of allogeneic mesenchymal-like adherent stromal cells (ASCs), derived from human full-term placentas following an elective caesarean section.
Disease: tendon injury
Therapeutic area:
Country:
Trial details:
Latest
news: * On March 12, 2014, Pluristem Therapeutics, a developer of placenta-based cell therapies, has announced that Dr. Scott Rodeo of New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) presented his research findings in a scientific poster titled, “Use of Human Placental-Derived Adherent Stromal Cells Improves Tendon Healing in a Preclinical Model of Tendon Injury,” at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) Annual Meeting, on March 11-15 in New Orleans. At the AAOS meeting, Dr. Rodeo’s poster presentation concluded that:
a) placental-expanded cell therapy appeared to have an early beneficial effect on tendon healing following collagenase injury in this preclinical model;
b) since these cells are immunoprivileged and are expanded ex vivo, its potential for “off-the-shelf” use is attractive relative to existing cell-based therapies; and
c) additional preclinical studies are necessary to understand how these cells may affect tendon repair.Dr. Rodeo and his orthopedic research team at HSS studied the effects of Pluristem’s PLacental eXpanded (PLX)-PAD cells in a preclinical model of patellar tendons that had sustained collagenase-induced injuries. The biomechanical analysis of the study results showed that PLX-PAD treated tendons had significantly higher load-to-failure at the 2-week time point following injection when compared to saline-treated patellar tendons (p < 0.05). While PLX-PAD treated tendons had a higher mean tendon load-to-failure and stiffness (31.44 ± 6.06 N/mm versus 27.91 ± 6.57 N/mm) at a 4-week time point, these differences were not statistically significant.Gross specimen and histological analysis of the tissue found:
a) no consistent differences in severity of inflammation were seen between saline and tendons treated with placental cells at 2 and 4 weeks;
b) no adverse soft tissue reaction was seen in placental cell-treated samples;
c) CFSE-labeled placental cells were identified in the patellar tendon tissues out to 4 weeks following injection on fluorescent microscopy; and
d) there was greater area of collagen content and metachromasia on ploraized-light picrosirius-red and safranin-O in tendons treated with placental-expanded cells, respectively.
