BioTime (NYSE: BTX) and its wholly owned subsidiary OrthoCyte Corporation reported today a means of manufacturing cartilage from human embryonic stem cells that is suited for industrial scale-up of a product for the treatment of osteoarthritis.
- The paper, published online in the peer-reviewed journal Regenerative Medicine, characterizes a progenitor cell line produced from human embryonic stem cells using proprietary ACTCellerate technology.
- The study reports that the cells are capable of regenerating cartilage with long sought-after identification markers.
- The study also shows that the cells can be directly expanded on a scale needed for industrial manufacture, which will be necessary in order to make transplantable cells available in commercial quantities.