Zimmer announces Neocartilage trial

Zimmer, together with ISTO Technologies, has announced the initiation of a clinical trial of Neocartilage, a living tissue-engineered graft being explored as a treatment for cartilage defects, pain relief in the knee and re-establishment of joint function.

The orthopaedic product and instrument manufacturer aims to commercialise the Neocartilage under the DeNovo ET engineered tissue graft brand name. The company first licensed exclusive commercial distribution rights to the technology from ISTO in 2002, with the firms consequently working together on further development and testing.

Neocartilage is living tissue grown from juvenile cartilage cells known as chrondrocytes using proprietary cell-based technology from ISTO that aims to expand these cells while maintaining their functional abilities and capacity for repair.

Jack Farr, an orthopaedic surgeon with OrthoIndy, said: “I have participated in a variety of projects involving cartilage repair and regeneration and I find the science behind DeNovo very compelling.”

He added that initial surgery on the first patient receiving this treatment in November 2006 had progressed as hoped, with further patients to be enrolled into the programme and have their improvement assessed.

Orthopaedic surgeon Kevin F Bonner commented that the procedure involved with Neocartilage builds on cartilage repair techniques previously used by physicians.

Neocartilage received investigational new drug approval from the US Food and Drug Administration in June 2006.