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CytoMed Therapeutics Limited Announces Research Collaboration with Singapore Sengkang General Hospital to Advance Injectable Umbilical Cord-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Cartilage Diseases and Repair | ||
By: GlobeNewswire - 04 Mar 2024 | Back to overview list |
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CytoMed diversifies into regenerative medicine SINGAPORE, March 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CytoMed Therapeutics Limited (NASDAQ: GDTC) (“CytoMed” or “Company”), a Singapore-based biopharmaceutical company focused on harnessing its proprietary technologies to develop novel donor-derived cell-based allogeneic therapies for the treatment of various cancers and aging-related diseases, today announced that it has entered into a Research Collaboration Agreement (“RCA”) with Sengkang General Hospital Pte Ltd (“SKH”), a public hospital in Singapore and a member of the SingHealth group to establish proof-of-concept use of an injectable cartilage regeneration therapy that has been developed with donor-sourced, (allogeneic) umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (“UC-MSCs”) to treat cartilage injury. This injectable therapy will be implemented in vivo to support the application and commencement of a proposed Phase 1 clinical trial in Singapore, and is anticipated to complete within two years. The use of MSC as a potential treatment for tissue regeneration, inflammatory and regenerative diseases has been the subject of increasing interest in the global scientific community. Osteoarthritis of the knee is a debilitating disease affecting Singapore’s aging population and the clinical trial will pioneer stem cell use for regenerative medicine in Singapore. UC-MSCs are a type of adult stem cells that can be isolated from the umbilical cord tissue after childbirth. These cells possess unique properties that have demonstrated to be promising for various therapeutic applications, especially when these cells are freshly harvested and isolated from the umbilical cord, as compared to MSCs derived from frozen tissues, of which the yield and quality may potentially suffer. UC-MSCs are considered multipotent and are able to differentiate into different cell types, including bone, cartilage, fat, and muscle cells. They also exhibit immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, making them attractive for regenerative medicine and immune-related disorders. "Our collaboration with CytoMed marks a significant step in advancing research on allogeneic in-vivo UC-MSC for cartilage repair, including osteoarthritis of the knee. Through our commitment to the Investigator Initiated Trial (IIT), we aim to gather crucial safety and efficacy data and evidence to make this intervention more accessible to patients," said Assistant Professor Francis Wong, Director of Research at SKH. “The unique advantages of UC-MSCs include their abundant supply, compared to cord blood-derived MSCs or adult stem cell sources like bone marrow-derived MSCs. Freshly harvested UC-MSCs are believed to possess higher proliferation capacity and greater differentiation potential. Additionally, UC-MSCs have been shown to exhibit lower immunogenicity and are less likely to be rejected by the recipient’s immune system, which opens the possibility for allogeneic (donor-to-recipient) transplantation. Therefore, UC-MSC would serve as an ideal source of regenerative cells for treating osteoarthritis of the knee. This hypothesis has also been supported by many international published clinical papers. We are excited to embark on this collaboration, which would potentially be the first stem cell trial in Singapore,” added Dr Tan Wee Kiat, co-CEO and Chief Operating Officer of CytoMed. Under the RCA, CytoMed will provide the allogeneic UC-MSC, processed and expanded in its own state-of-the-art GMP laboratory while SKH will provide the infrastructure, manpower and scientific data analysis. CytoMed is focused on cancer immunotherapies. The RCA has been established within a year of approval of CytoMed’s Phase 1 IIT with the National University Hospital of Singapore, which sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CytoMed’s novel allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (“CAR-T”), which is the first home-grown CAR-T therapy in Singapore, for the treatment of liquid and solid cancers. For more information about the Company's services, latest news, and ongoing initiatives, please visit www.cytomed.sg. About CytoMed Therapeutics Limited (CytoMed) Forward-Looking Statements Contact: CytoMed Therapeutics |
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