Orthocell highlights its novel ability to treat tennis elbow
Following treatment with Orthocell’s Ortho-ATI, 88% of patients in the study returned to work.
Regenerative medicine company Orthocell (ASX: OCC) has posted positive results from a study into its novel tendon cell therapy treatment for tennis elbow.
Orthocell says that Ortho-ATI is a “world-leading breakthrough in regenerative medicine” that’s currently available to patients in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. In essence, it is a cell therapy developed to treat chronic degenerative tendon injuries such as tendinopathy and tendonitis.
Tendinopathy places a significant financial burden on public health care systems which are further burdened by ageing populations. Treating physicians and insurers are constantly seeking advances in new treatments that are safe, effective and cost-efficient.
The company’s study looked at 24 patients with an average age of 46 who suffered work-related injuries and disability and was performed in collaboration with Professor Ming Hao Zheng from the University of Western Australia and leading orthopaedic surgeons Dr Jeff Hughes and Dr Alex O’Beirne.
Dr Hughes said that “Ortho-ATI has been instrumental in helping my patients to recover from long-term lateral epicondylitis as a result of a work injury which has proved resistant to other modes of therapy including physiotherapy, corticosteroid & PRP injections and surgery.”
He added: “This new data helps to validate the durability of Ortho-ATI for chronic tendon injury.”
Working problems
Tennis elbow is a common work-related injury affecting 1% to 3% of adults in Australia placing the affected population somewhere around 400,000 people.
16% of patients with tennis elbow require work restrictions and frequently need prolonged absences from work, with on average 29 days missed per patient. According to medical professionals, office work, health care and manual work have been identified as the top three affected occupations.
“We are extremely excited by these study results which indicate Ortho-ATI is a cost-effective treatment for chronic tendon injuries that are resistant to current treatment approaches and affecting patient’s ability to work. Ortho-ATI is proving to be a breakthrough technology with the potential to deliver significant socio-economic benefits, including improved individual productivity and reduced health care costs,” said Paul Anderson, managing director of Orthocell.
The emerging biotech company also said its autologous tenocyte injection treatment, Ortho-ATI, significantly improved the clinical outcome of patients with long-term tennis elbow degeneration, showing reduced pain and increased functionality enabling patients to return to work.