Is This The Beginning Of Stem Cell Treatments For Rheumatoid Arthritis?

21/09/2016

Mesoblast, an Australian biomedical company and creator of the world’s first off-the-shelf stem cell product, are trialling a new rheumatoid arthritis treatment and seeing significant improvements in the symptoms and disease activity.

The leading regenerative medicine giant is already making a name for itself in the stem cell therapy market. After recently dominating the headlines with the launch of its first wave of stem products known as Temcell in Japan, Mesoblast is now acting on its plans to become the first to bring an arthritis product to market.

In the Phase 2 trial, 48 patients who are unable to get relief through conventional medicines are being treated for 12 weeks with Mesoblast’s mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) product, ‘MPC-300-IV’.

The treatment, although allogeneic (made from the stem cells of donors), is proving to be well tolerated in the patients and has no serious side effects. Currently, the only way to fully ensure a stem cell treatment is risk-free and 100 percent compatible with your body is through autologous treatment — where your own stem cells are harvested and used.

“These results support the potential of our allogeneic cell therapy to be positioned as a first-line treatment option for biologic refractory patients, where there is a clear need for safe and effective treatments,” —Silviu Itescu, Mesoblast Chief Executive

Around a third of people who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis fail to respond or tolerate commonly prescribed treatments like AbbVie’s Humira — the world’s top-selling arthritis medicine. Mesoblast’s new MSC product could not only offer a more tolerated alternative to popular drugs on the market but one that offers even greater outcomes.

Treating Arthritis, Conquering Autoimmune Disease

“The safety and efficacy results of this study are very encouraging and suggest that Mesoblast’s cell therapy has the potential to fill the major unmet medical need of the biologic refractory RA population, where agents that provide consistent durable effects without the risk of opportunistic infections or malignancies are sorely needed,”—Dr. Allan Gibofsky, rheumatologist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York

As a chronic, degenerative autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis is notoriously difficult to manage and treat.

The disease progressively causes a build up of inflammation in the joints and can also affect the skin, eyes, blood vessels, lungs, and heart.

In the first follow-up of the Mesoblast trial, the results show over half of the participants achieved a 20 percent relief from signs and symptoms. 36 percent achieved a remarkable 70 percent improvement and an increase in physical function and decrease in overall disease activity, as compared to no improvement reported in the patients in the placebo group.

Autoimmune diseases like arthritis, including Type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and Crohn’s, occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own vital cells, tissues, and organs. Collectively, there are over 50 million sufferers of autoimmune disease in America alone. That’s one in every five people — an epidemic of unimaginable proportions.

This makes it crucial to find and bring to market a solution soon, and with results from trials like the Mesoblast MPC-300-IV study, mesenchymal stem cells are showing to hold the greatest promise.

Are you prepared for a future of personalised stem cell therapies? Contact us today to find out how we can help safeguard the health of your children by storing stem cells from milk teeth.