InGeneron Initiates Study for its Clinical Lead Program in Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy

InGeneron Inc., a regenerative medicine and cell therapy company, has enrolled the first patients in a pivotal study evaluating InGeneron’s cell therapy as a way to treat partial thickness rotator cuff tears involving a partial tear in the supraspinatus tendon.
 
The primary goal of the double-blinded, multi-center trial is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the company’s autologous point-of-care cell therapy in treating this indication. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to begin the study, and patient enrollment has started. The trial plans to enroll 246 patients at up to 15 sites across the United States and is among the largest regenerative cell therapy studies in this indication to date.
 
A partial rotator cuff tear is one of the most common orthopedic impairments of a person’s shoulder, and can be characterized by a degenerative and often chronic condition found in the supraspinatus tendon. The condition is estimated to affect more than 1 million patients in developed economies annually. InGeneron is investigating the use of autologous adipose (fat)-derived regenerative cells (ADRCs) as an outpatient treatment to potentially provide patients with better options than currently available.
 
InGeneron’s therapeutic approach involves isolating regenerative cells from patients’ own adipose tissue through a minimally invasive liposuction procedure, processing them with the company’s proprietary technology, and injecting the isolated cells in the site of the patient’s injury under ultrasound guidance. The pivotal study is double-blinded and will include a group of patients who receive the cell therapy treatment and a control group that receives a corticosteroid injection. The use of corticosteroids is a current standard of care in the treatment of partial rotator cuff tears. Patients enrolled in the study will be monitored through follow-up visits for 48 weeks following the intervention.
 
The company’s pivotal trial for rotator cuff tendinopathy represents its clinical lead program and builds on positive outcomes of a previous feasibility study reported in December 2018, which found InGeneron’s therapy for rotator cuff tears to be safe and well-tolerated. While these results are being prepared for peer-reviewed publication, top-line data of the trial can be found on the company’s website.
 
“Following the positive results of our feasibility study, the enrollment of the first patients in this pivotal program is another important milestone on our way toward introducing regenerative cell therapy to clinical practice,” said Angelo Moesslang, Ph.D., CEO of InGeneron. “We look forward to further generating evidence of the safety and clinical benefit of our therapeutic approach, and are optimistic that the trial will support our efforts to obtain a label approval to market our technology for this indication in the U.S.”
 
Focusing its development activities on orthopedic indications, InGeneron has two additional clinical programs in place. Earlier this year, the first patients were enrolled in feasibility studies for facet joint syndrome, one of the major causes of chronic back pain, and wrist osteoarthritis, a condition resulting in diminished grip strength and a limited range of motion in the wrist.
 
InGeneron is a clinical stage cell therapy company enabling safe and evidence-based regenerative medicine therapies. Its purpose is to set new therapeutic standards by developing treatments that unlock the healing potential of each patient’s own regenerative cells processed at the point of care for same-day application. The company focuses on helping patients who are impacted by musculoskeletal indications.