SHANGHAI, China and PALO ALTO, Calif., June 5, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc. (Nasdaq:CBMG) (“CBMG” or the “Company”), a biomedicine firm engaged in the development of effective treatments for degenerative and cancerous diseases, today announced the publication of the use of human adipose-derived progenitor cells (haMPCs) to treat knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. “We are very pleased to see this important pre-clinical data published on one of the applications of our regenerative medicine Stem Cell Platform,” commented Dr. William (Wei) Cao, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “The data bolsters our belief in the effectiveness of our lead product candidate, ReJoinTM haMPC therapy in treating KOA and promoting the regeneration of cartilage.”
The publication, titled “Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Progenitor Cells Engraft into Rabbit Articular Cartilage,” appears online in the May edition of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. The objective of the study was to investigate whether intra-articular injection of xenogeneic human adipose-derived mesenchymal progenitor cells (haMPCs) engrafted into rabbit articular cartilage would promote articular cartilage repair in the rabbit OA model. The haMPCs were cultured in vitro, and phenotypes and differentiation characteristics of the cells were evaluated. Assessments were carried out by macroscopic examination, hematoxylin/eosin (HE) and Safranin-O/Fast green stainings and immunohistochemistry. The data showed that haMPC treatment promoted cartilage repair. Further, we observed positive staining of human mitochondrial marker and HLA-I but not HLA-II DR on rabbit cartilage in the treated animals. The conclusion of the results is that intra-articular injection of haMPCs promotes regeneration of articular cartilage in the rabbit OA model, and supports the notion that MPCs are transplantable between HLA-incompatible individuals.
The Company is currently running a Phase IIb clinical trial of its ReJoinTM autologous human adipose-derived mesenchymal progenitor cell (haMPC) therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA), and previously released positive 24-week interim data. The Company expects to complete Phase IIb 12 month patient follow-up by the fourth quarter of 2015. 