Celavie Biosciences

Celavet Animal Health

Innovative Stem Cell Technology Shows Promise in Treatment of Equine Tendon Injuries

Unique pluripotent stem cells show favorable structural improvements to damaged tendons

OXNARD, Calif., March 3, 2010—A recent study from Celavet Inc., a subsidiary of Celavie Biosciences LLC, demonstrates promising indications for the efficacy of pluripotent stem cells in the treatment of tendon injuries in horses. Conducted at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine by Dr. Alan Nixon, the equine study investigates the effect of Celavet’s undifferentiated stem cells versus placebo controls in acute tendonitis lesions in horses’ superficial flexor tendons.

Extremely common and highly prone to re-injury or imperfect healing, equine tendon injuries have no reliable treatment methods. “This study gives us great hope as to the promise our technology holds,” said Celavie CEO and President Sandy Solmon. “With veterinary applications for our stem cell technology offering a fast path to market, our innovation will help heal many animals, and eventually, people.”

The double-blind, placebo-controlled, large animal, short-term (eight-week) experiment reveals substantial, clinically relevant improvement in the healing of tendon injuries, after horses induced with tendonitis received intra-lesional injection of Celavet’s pluripotent stem cells (SCs). Results show significantly improved tissue architecture, tendon size, and tendon linear fiber pattern on histologic sections and ultrasound in the SCs treated tendons. Celavet’s SCs exhibit demonstrable structural effects, which lend further support to the notion that pluripotent stem cells can affect musculoskeletal regeneration, rather than simply repairing the damaged tissue. Such measureable architectural improvements have not been shown previously with any other treatment modality.

Celavie and Celavet use the latest technological breakthroughs to produce large banks of undifferentiated cells with uniform qualities utilizing closed-system bioreactors. The cells are grown in a specialized patented medium that allows them to maintain their sterility and genetic stability over the course of the manufacturing process.

Celavet uses the same standardized and controlled production methods to establish equine, canine, and feline stem cell lines as those used by Celavie in the manufacture of human cells. Stem cell lines from different species all express standard stem cell characteristics and are available to address pathologies in their respective species.

###

Contact Celavie Biosciences

Changing the Paradigm of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Technology