Shares in regenerative medicine company ORTHOCELL (ASX:OCC) soared following publication of data from a collaborative research project involving centres in Australia, Sweden and India.
Shares in the company are up around one-third since the announcement.
ORTHOCELL is developing cell-based therapies that aim to regenerate damaged tendon and cartilage tissue.
According to the company, the paper, published in the Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, demonstrated that growth factors and extra cellular matrix proteins derived from cells cultivated in a quality controlled 'cell factory', when concentrated and used as an intra-articular injection alone or combined with scaffolds, regenerated deep articular cartilage defects in rabbits.
"These bioreactor-produced native proteins have the potential to be a clinically important and cost-effective procedure for the regeneration of articular cartilage of the knee and also other joints," said Orthocell CEO Paul Anderson.
"As the population ages and cartilage injuries become more prevalent, doctors and patients are seeking out treatments to alleviate symptoms that affect their mobility and quality of life," he said. "It may also be a promising early treatment in an ageing population with more widespread cartilage loss such as those that occur in osteoarthritis."
More than 500,000 cartilage surgeries are undertaken in the US each year, said the company.