He knows what it takes to clear the FDA and beyond…ProChon Biotech, Ltd., a tissue regeneration company that develops technologies to relieve pain and restore the mobility and quality of life for sufferers of articular cartilage injuries, has announced that Jack Farr, M.D. has joined the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Jack Farr, M.D. Joins ProChon Board
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Dr. Farr is a specialist in sports medicine and knee restoration, and currently practices at Indiana Orthopedics Hospital (OrthoIndy) in Indianapolis. He holds numerous appointments and affiliations, including a voluntary professorship in orthopaedic surgery at Indiana University Medical Center and a board position with the Cartilage Research Foundation. Dr. Farr’s clinical research has been the basis of more than 50 published clinical studies and he has presented at numerous national and international meetings. He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine, the International Cartilage Repair Society and several other professional organizations.
“We are honored that Dr. Farr has joined our Scientific Advisory Board, ” said Patrick O’Donnell, CEO of ProChon, in the news release. “His vast knowledge and research experience in cartilage restoration will serve as an invaluable resource as we accelerate clinical development of the BioCart Autologous Cartilage System.”
Dr. Farr has an undergraduate degree in biological engineering from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he also was awarded an honorary doctorate of biological engineering. He earned his medical degree from Indiana University in 1979 and completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Indiana University Medical Center in 1986.
When asked what he hopes to bring to the board, Dr. Farr told OTW,
Real-life clinical approach to new products under development. For example, in many markets, FDA approval is only the first step. After surgeon acceptance, the next big hurdle is satisfying the ‘medical policy’ requirements of insurance companies and governmental health care.
As for what has best prepared him for this new role, Dr. Farr commented to OTW,
After starting with Generation I cartilage restoration in 1998, there have been opportunities to work with several new products in various stages of development: preclinical to phase I, II, III, FDA trials and post market release registries. At the same time, patients don’t often present with a single problem. As the director of the Cartilage Restoration Center of Indy, I evaluate and coordinated treatment of these co-morbidities, which is essential to optimize any type of articular cartilage restoration product.
ProChon’s R&D facility resides in Ness Ziona, Israel, and the executive management team is based in Woburn, Massachusetts.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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