A simple shot shows promise to reverse osteoarthritis within weeks
A research team including scientists and engineers from the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Anschutz and Colorado State University has developed a suite of new therapies that prompt aging or damaged joints to repair themselves within weeks, according to animal studies.
The new osteoarthritis treatments include a single, regenerative injection to a joint and a biomaterial repair kit that recruits the body’s own cells to patch holes in damaged cartilage.
To expedite the research, the federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced this week that the multidisciplinary team will advance to the next phase of the up to $33.5 million project. The project is under the ARPA-H Novel Innovations for Tissue Regeneration in Osteoarthritis (NITRO) program. NITRO is led by ARPA-H Program Manager Dr. Ross Uhrich.
“In two years, we were able to go from a moonshot idea to developing these therapies to demonstrating that they reverse osteoarthritis in animals,” said principal investigator Stephanie Bryant, professor of chemical and biological engineering at CU Boulder. “Our goal is not just to treat pain and halt progression, but to end this disease.”
The team hopes to publish their animal findings in a peer reviewed journal later this year and has formed a company, Renovare Therapeutics Inc. to move toward commercialization.
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