Grant to progress tendon fabrication project

Regenerative medicine company Orthocell (ASX:OCC) today received an Australian Research Council (ARC) grant of $430,000 to continue its investigation of tendon tissue and the development of novel therapies — such as the laboratory-fabricated tendon project announced by the company late last year.

The Linkage grant was received by Orthocell in collaboration with Griffith University, La Trobe University and The University of Western Australia. Managing director Paul Anderson said the grant “demonstrates the scientific quality of our collaborative research and the relevance to finding new and innovative ways of solving the serious challenge of tendon injury and degeneration”.

There are no currently approved technologies for the fabrication of human tendon outside of the body for full tendon replacement. The only options for tendon replacement are the harvesting and re-use of existing tendons, which often result in significant donor site morbidity; and synthetic tendon replacements, which have a history of failure and have been banned in many jurisdictions globally.

The laboratory-fabricated human tendon, developed by Orthocell in November 2014, potentially provides a solution to these problems. Anderson said the project has “generated a significant amount of international interest from scientists and life science companies”.

Orthocell (ASX:OCC) shares were trading 5.26% higher at $0.40 as of around 3.30 pm on Thursday