Regenerative Medicine Start-Up Celavet Names Veterinarian Advisory Team
New stem cell technology tested as innovative treatment for equine injuries
OXNARD, Calif., April 14, 2008—Regenerative medicine start-up Celavet Inc., a subsidiary of Celavie Biosciences LLC, has added a robust team of veterinary experts to advance research on a new stem cell technology designed to provide alternative approaches to therapy in orthopedic conditions for large and small animals. Celavet’s team of specialists is focused on restoring health and mobility to animals suffering from musculoskeletal injuries, torn ligaments and tendons, osteoarthritis, burns, and other injuries, with an initial focus on equine applications.
“Furthering our goal to relieve suffering by tapping the natural healing power encoded in cells, we were pleased to find interest in applying our stem cell technology to help animals,” says Sandy Solmon, CEO and President of Celavie Biosciences. “We’ve had inspiring results from our studies treating equine tendon injuries. Also, when used in a compassion-care use application to treat severe burns on an abused pit bull, our technology showed almost total restoration.”
The new veterinary health advisors include:
- Alan J. Nixon, BVSc, MS, DACVS, Cornell University—
Over 30 years specializing in veterinary and large animal surgery; Founding Director, Comparative Orthopaedics Laboratory and JD&ML Wheat Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell; his work at Cornell focuses on musculoskeletal injury and repair, with a specific interest in regenerative medicine; authored more than 350 papers and book chapters, and two texts on equine orthopedics; and, - Russ Peterson, MS, DVM, DACVSMR, University of California, Davis—
Over 40 years experience in equine sports medicine, regenerative medicine, and rehabilitation; Founding Principal and Director of Equine Sports Medicine, Peninsula Equine Medical Center, a thoroughbred/quarter racing and sport practice; played key role in establishing veterinary supervision and standards for the American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) competitions.
They join CEO Solmon, who is also Celavie’s lead investor as well as CEO and Founder of multinational Sweet Street Desserts®; Oleg Kopyov, MD, PhD, Celavie’s Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer; and Alex Kopyov, Vice President of Clinical R&D.
Offering a fast path to the regenerative medicine market, Celavet is working to restore function in orthopedic conditions of large and small animals by using undifferentiated allogeneic pluripotent stem cells, with noticeable tissue repair observed in trials conducted on over 400 horses. Celavet uses the same standardized and controlled production methods to establish equine, canine, and feline stem cell lines as those used by Celavie Biosciences in the manufacture of human cells.
“We utilize Celavie Bioscience’s proprietary technology transplanting pluripotent stem cells into the ligaments and tendons of injured horses, enabling them to regain their fullest potential as competitors, performers, workers or companions,” added Solmon. “Research in one area leads to innovations in others.”
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