Bioscience spinout offers a new approach to knee injury treatment

The School of Biosciences has launched Progenteq, a new spin-out company aiming to develop a novel cartilage replacement therapy for the treatment of acute knee injuries.  Founded by Professor Charlie Archer, Progenteq builds on the School's research excellence in tissue engineering and repair.

The company exploits the successful isolation of a defined population of cells from the articular cartilage in joints with stem cell like properties (Dowthwaite et al., 2004, 117; Khan et al.,2009, 17).  These cells can be expanded in the laboratory to produce very large quantities of cartilage to enhance the limited capacity of the resident cartilage cells. As a result, surgeons should be able to treat more severely damaged joints, particularly the knee, than currently possible. This improved treatment will be particularly valuable in the treatment of professional sports injuries and may pave the way for new treatment strategies for degenerative cartilage damage such as that seen in osteoarthritis

Progenteq has appointed Angel Biotechnology PLC as its development partner.  Angel is currently undertaking technical transfer activities under an award to Progenteq from the Technology Strategy Board's Regenerative Medicine programme. 

Progenteq, was created through the exclusive agreement of Cardiff University with Fusion IP, the AIM listed university commercialisation  company, which translates university research into new businesses

David Baynes, CEO of Fusion IP said:

"Cardiff continues to produce world class IP. Although this is an early stage project an allogeneic approach has been described to us as "the holy grail" of cartilage repair.   We believe that Professor Archer's discovery may be the key and as such it has the potential to revolutionise the way we treat acute knee injuries.  The support from the Technology Strategy Board is proving invaluable in catalysing innovation in regenerative medicine in the UK.  We look forward to working with Angel as we start the first stages towards the clinic."

Dowthwaite et al., Journal of Cell Science, (2004) 117, p889

Khan et al., Osteoarthritis  and Cartilage, (2009) 17, p518