MELBOURNE, Australia and NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Regenerative medicine company Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB) (USOTC:MBLTY) today announced that the Phase 2 clinical trial using the Company's proprietary Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) for lumbar spinal fusion has been selected for presentation at the North American Spine Society (NASS) 28th Annual Meeting.
The NASS meeting, the premier international conference for spinal care professionals, will be held in New Orleans from 9-12 October. The Phase 2 trial results will be presented by the trial's independent principal investigator Dr Randall F. Dryer, an orthopedic surgeon with the Central Texas Spine Institute.
The results indicate that Mesoblast's cell therapy product for lumbar spinal fusion was equivalent to hip autograft, the gold standard for this procedure, at 12 months in terms of reducing pain and improving function, without the need for a second surgical procedure which can cause blood loss and chronic pain at the bone harvest site. As importantly, there were no cell-related serious adverse events such as excessive bone formation or nerve compression, which have been reported with other biologic therapies in lumbar spinal fusion. Mesoblast intends to initiate a Phase 3 trial in interbody lumbar fusion this year.
According to Millennium Research Group, in the United States there were approximately 380,000 lumbar spinal fusion procedures performed in 2012. They estimate the overall worldwide market for bone graft substitutes to be nearly $1.6 billion dollars in 2012 with the majority of bone graft revenues, approximately 70%, coming from spinal fusion procedures.
About Mesoblast
Mesoblast Limited (ASX:MSB) (USOTC:MBLTY) is a world leader in the development of biologic products for the broad field of regenerative medicine. The Company's technologies include its proprietary adult Mesenchymal Precursor Cell (MPC) technology platform for bone marrow and adipose tissue derived products, Dental Pulp Stem Cells (DPSCs) and expanded Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs). Mesoblast's allogeneic or 'off-the-shelf' regenerative medicine products focus on repair of damaged issues and modulation of inflammatory responses in conditions with significant unmet medical needs. The lead product candidates use its MPC platform in three major and distinct areas - systemic inflammatory conditions, cardiovascular diseases and orthopedic diseases of the spine. www.mesoblast.com