Project Title: Filling the translational gap of mesenchymal stem cell-based tissue engineering strategies for cartilage regeneration therapy
Research Impact Fund (RIF) project 2020/21 by Professor B.P. Chan
Cartilage injuries are very common but existing surgical treatments are not satisfactory. Advanced therapies such as cell and tissue engineering products offer great hope in treating cartilage injuries. Built on over a decade’s research and development, we have developed a novel autologous mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based engineered osteochondral tissue (eOCT). Pre-clinical investigations in animal models showed exciting outcomes with rapid and sustained regeneration of high quality hyaline cartilage in traumatic injuries. Under the new regulatory framework for Advanced Therapy Products (ATP), eOCTs have to be manufactured with GMP compliance in a qualified facility before testing in human. In this project, collaborating among a cross-disciplinary group of scientists, engineers and surgeons from two universities and three hospitals, and with industrial partners, we aim to (1) develop a GMP compliant manufacturing process for autologous MSC-based eOCT; and (2) conduct a first-in-human clinical study on the safety profile of the GMP-manufactured eOCT in treating patients with traumatic cartilage defects.
Filling the translational gap of mesenchymal stem cellbased tissue engineering strategies for cartilage regeneration therapy
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