$500 billion will be spent on Regenerative Medicine by 2010

Cambridge, UK, 8/07

Regenerative medicine is in 'the vanguard of 21st century healthcare' with a 'worldwide market for regenerative medicine conservatively estimated to be $500 billion by 2010', says recent U.S. DHSS report.

Previously the field has been limited by an inability to create tissues in the laboratory that the human tissue accepts as natural and can therefore be fully integrated into the body.

Intercytex Group, plc, a UK based cell therapy company focused on aesthetic medicine and tissue repair, reports completion of Phase I clinical trials (safety) in seven volunteers at a single UK transplant centre, and claims no safety issues have arisen.

Five out of the seven patients are showing increased hair numbers. A Phase II clinical efficacy trial on 20 subjects with male pattern baldness is under way in the UK, soon to be followed by further trials using variations in delivery technique under similar conditions. The trial is designed to demonstrate efficacy of ICX-TRC, the hair regeneration product currently under development, its dosage regime and delivery device.

It is intended that ICX-TRC will be used by hair transplant centers, dermatologists and plastic surgeons in the treatment of male pattern baldness.

If all goes well, they plan to include treatment of patients with female diffuse alopecia.

A commercial product is not expected to be available before 2010.

Also undergoing clinical trials is VAVELTATm, Intercytex facial rejuvenation product intended to improve the appearance of facial imperfections. VAVELTATM is a suspension of human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) in cell storage medium, for injection into the skin. Fibroblasts are responsible for the production of collagen and, when injected into the skin, they are intended to produce collagen. It is anticipated that preliminary results from these trials will be available at the end of 2007.

Two other products currently under development are ICX-PRO, designed to stimulate active repair in chronic wounds and ICX-SKN, being developed as a skin replacement. In June of this year, Intercytex announced a clinical breakthrough in regenerative medicine at the end of a clinical trial in which "laboratory-made living human skin was fully and consistently integrated into the human body for the first time". ICX-SKN contrasts with all other living skin graft alternatives which biodegrade after a matter of weeks.


 

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