International Stem Cell Corp., a biotechnology company developing novel stem cell-based therapies, announced that its scientific team has developed a robust innovative technology to generate functional articular cartilage from the patient’s own skin or adipose tissue to treat osteoarthritis. ISCO believes this technology may allow the company to provide relief to patients suffering from osteoarthritic knee joints, as well as to those with shoulder joints and intervertebral spinal disk osteoarthritis.

Ruslan Semechkin, ISCO’s chief scientific officer, stated, “While we are working on obtaining regulatory approval for the Parkinson’s disease treatment in Australia, as well as in the US, we are also pursuing a number of other therapeutic indications including osteoarthritis, which can potentially be treated with the patient’s own cells.”

Even though osteoarthritis is prevalent in our society, there is a lack of an effective treatment for this disease. Developing and successfully testing a scalable system that permits the generation of functional human cartilage tissue with superior mechanical properties is a significant accomplishment. The capacity to provide greater stability than other tissue that is currently available for the treatment of osteoarthritis is even more impressive.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease characterized by progressive erosion of the articular cartilage. Although osteoarthritis can damage any joint in the body, the disorder most commonly affects joints in the hands, knees, hips and spine. The erosion of articular cartilage leads to joint pain, stiffness, and impaired mobility. According to the Arthritis foundation osteoarthritis affects over 27 million Americans with an estimated medical costs of as much as $65 billion.

For more information on the company, visit www.internationalstemcell.com