Product
Our lead product RegACL
MorphoMed’s innovative lead product is a regenerative anterior cruciate ligament (RegACL) implant made from medical silk fibroin filaments, a first-in-class scaffold for natural tissue regeneration which grants full stability immediately after surgery and stimulates the regrowth of a new ACL (regenerative tissue engineering approach).
Thus, the surgical procedure is shortened and simplified, as it is reduced to a one-step procedure, and the extraction of autologous tissue is unnecessary, resulting in no loss of stability in other body regions.
Furthermore, RegACL implants are available in unlimited quantities (unlike the autologous materials), and can be implanted with all standard surgical procedures used today.
The silk-based RegACL acts as a lead structure for the regeneration of a body’s own ACL. Simultaneously with the cellular growth along the silk’s structure and the formation of the new natural ACL, the silk implant undergoes biological degradation over some months to a few years, so that the patient finally has a fully restored ACL.
Strong preclinical data
A twelve month animal study in which the prototype of the silk ACL was implanted in over 30 sheep has yielded excellent results which have already been published in a leading journal (Teuschl A et al., Am. J. Sports Med. 2016;44:1547–57).
Histological data showed gradual degradation of the silk-fiber based RegACL graft after six and twelve months and replacement by intrinsic material (aligned collagen fibers and vascularization). At the same time, the sheep could follow the flock under full weight bearing and at full speed. Furthermore, the knees did not show any arthritic effects, which points to a fully functional ACL. Recent histological data showed a significant integration of the tissue into the bone channels (publication in preparation).
Image: In-growth of collagen fibers into the bone channel
Pipeline
Based on our medical silk technology, MorphoMed plans to develop a portfolio of regenerative solutions for other ligament, tendon, and cartilage injuries.