New research points a finger at a previously unknown long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) as playing a critical role in activating nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) inflammatory responses and driving the progression of osteoarthritis of the knee.
PARIS – A team of researchers from the Université Grenoble Alpes, France, has been working on X-ray phase-contrast imaging (PCI) for investigating osteoarthritis. The team at the Inserm Synchrotron Radiation for Biomedicine (Strobe) laboratory in Grenoble, France has spent the last five years working with Grenoble-based firm Novitom SAS on this new imaging modality for osteoarticular conditions.
Avanos Medical Inc. is acquiring Orthogen Rx Inc. for $160 million in a bid to strengthen its chronic pain portfolio. China led the contribution to India’s med-tech imports with ₹91.12 billion (US$1.2 billion) worth of goods in the 2021 fiscal year (April 2020 to March 2021), according to an analysis of data from India’s Department of Commerce by the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED).
Medical science has not yet convincingly duplicated the remarkable properties of cartilage, an omission that sustains an epidemic of life-altering knee replacement surgeries. Anthony Ratcliffe, CEO of Synthasome Inc., of Del Mar, Calif., said on a recent FDA webinar that companies might want to consider the lowly goat as the animal model of choice in preclinical studies of cartilage products because “the cost, ease of management, and the social aspects were all manageable” with goats.
Pacira Biosciences Inc. will add to its core non-opioid-based therapies business by buying Flexion Therapeutics Inc. for $427 million. That brings into the company’s fold Zilretta (triamcinolone acetonide extended-release injectable suspension) for treating osteoarthritis knee pain, an injectable non-opioid that’s already FDA approved in addition to being in a phase II study for treating shoulder osteoarthritis.
European regulators have rejected Pfizer Inc.’s tanezumab, casting further doubts on whether the FDA will okay the troubled drug that is intended as a non-opioid alternative for osteoarthritis pain.
DUBLIN – Shares in Bone Therapeutics SA dropped by as much as 38% Aug. 30 after the regenerative medicine firm reported that its lead program, JTA-004, flopped in a phase III trial in osteoarthritis of the knee. The candidate therapy, designed to lubricate and protect damaged cartilage in affected joints, failed to meet the primary endpoint of being superior to placebo in reducing pain, as measured on the Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (Womac) pain subscale three months after treatment.
The FDA granted breakthrough device designation for the Hyalex Cartilage System, a biomimetic materials platform designed to restore function and repair cartilage defects in the knee. The system, developed by Hyalex Orthopaedics Inc., combines two polymers that improve adhesion on one side and create a low-friction surface that protects the cartilage counterface on the other.
PARIS ‒ Kiomed Pharma SA reported it has signed an exclusive agreement with fellow Belgian company, Moveup SA for the development and licensing of a mobile companion application intended for personalized conservative management treatment for patients suffering from intra-articular osteoarthritis.
Cymedica Orthopedics Inc. received FDA clearance for its Intellihab system to reduce pain associated with osteoarthritis in the knee. The system uses neuromuscular electrical stimulation to strengthen muscles supporting the knee without requiring typical exercises such as squats that could increase pain and further degrade the joint. Intellihab includes a knee brace that emits the pulses and a smartphone app patients use to track and manage the therapy.
