‘Living Bandage’ for Meniscal Tears: Human Trial

Thanks in part to scientists at the Universities of Liverpool and Bristol, five individuals with meniscal tears have had the chance to try a new “living bandage” made from stem cells. According to the December 15, 2016 news release, the Cell Bandage was developed by spinout company Azellon Ltd. The trial received funding support from Innovate UK and the promising results have been published in the December 2016 edition of Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

As indicated in the news release, “The procedure involved taking stem cells, harvested from the patient’s own bone marrow, which were then grown for two weeks before being seeded onto a membrane scaffold that helps to deliver the cells into the injured site. The manufactured Cell Bandage was then surgically implanted into the middle of the tear and the cartilage was sewn up around the bandage to keep it in place.”

“All five patients had an intact meniscus 12 months post implantation. By 24 months, three of the five patients retained an intact meniscus and had returned to normal knee functionality whilst the other two patients required surgical removal of the damaged meniscus due to a new tear or return of symptoms.”

Professor Anthony Hollander, Ph.D., Chair of Stem Cell Biology at the University of Liverpool and Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Azellon, said: “The Cell Bandage trial results are very encouraging and offer a potential alternative to surgical removal that will repair the damaged tissue and restore full knee function. “We are currently developing an enhanced version of the Cell Bandage using donor stem cells, which will reduce the cost of the procedure and remove the need for two operations.”

The Cell Bandage was produced by the Advanced Therapies Unit at the NHS [National Health Services] Blood & Transplant facility in Speke, Liverpool and implanted into patients at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, under the supervision of Professor Ashley Blom, M.D., Ph.D., Head of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Bristol.

Professor Blom commented: “The Cell Bandage offers an exciting potential new treatment option for surgeons that could particularly benefit younger patients and athletes by reducing the likelihood of early onset osteoarthritis after meniscectomy.”

Dr. Hollander told OTW, “Previous attempts have been made to reconstruct meniscus following meniscectomy. Our Cell Bandage trial is the first time that stem cells have been used to restore torn meniscus to its natural state by driving a healing process across the torn surfaces.”