CartiHeal, Ltd. has been awarded four patents, three by the U.S. Patent Office and one by Japan’s, for its cell-free, off-the-shelf cartilage regeneration technology for patients with injuries to the articular surface of joints. CartiHeal is a privately held medical device company headquartered in Kfar Saba, Israel.
Israeli Firm Earns US Patents
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The patents describe the use of coral scaffolds, called the Agili-C Implant, for the treatment of cartilage and bone defects, osteoarthritis and assorted joint disorders. According to the company’s release, the implant demonstrated clinical safety and effectiveness in a series of clinical trials, by enhancing regeneration of true hyaline cartilage and subchondral bone.
“These four patents strengthen CartiHeal’s IP portfolio, and position the company at the forefront of innovative technologies in the field of cartilage regeneration, ” reports Nir Altschuler, founder and CEO of CartiHeal. “Cartilage regeneration represents one of medicine’s most challenging unmet needs. We are proud to say that CartiHeal and its breakthrough technology are able to meet this challenge.”
The company claims that its Agili-C implant promotes regeneration of hyaline cartilage and its subchondral bone, simultaneously without the use of cells, growth factors or other exogenous agents. Industry representatives voted Agili-C one of the top 10 most exciting Israeli medical-device and pharmaceutical developments to watch for in 2014.
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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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