Stem Cell Company Targets OA Knee Treatment Gap

Officials of the regenerative medicine company Regeneus Ltd have announced plans to open a HiQCell regenerative medicine clinic in Singapore in late 2014. They have named the sports medicine physician Patrick Goh, M.D. as Medical Director.

Goh has a lengthy resume. He was chief medical officer for Team Singapore during the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. He holds a number of positions within Singapore’s Ministry of Health, the Singapore Armed Forces and Defense Science Organization and the National Anti-Doping Advisory Board.

Goh said, “HiQCell provides a viable treatment option for mid-stage, age or impact related osteoarthritis [OA] patients who might otherwise face ongoing debilitating pain, loss of function, inability to play sports and reduced quality of life. I am very pleased to be able to offer this treatment to my patients.”

The HiQCell treatment involves harvesting a small amount of a patient’s own stem cells from their adipose tissue and, after separating and concentrating the regenerative cells, re-injecting them in joints affected by osteoarthritis such as knees, hips and ankles.

According to the press release, HiQCell has been used to treat more than 500 patients and over 1, 000 arthritic joints. The release states that the cell therapy procedure is supported by safety data from a randomized controlled clinical trial and that long-term safety and efficacy data is tracked through Australia’s first Joint Registry for stem cell therapy.