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news.Aastrom Biosciences and Orthovita have signed an agreement to develop products for the orthopedics market using Orthovita's bone graft substitute Vitoss and Aastrom's tissue repair cells.
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Orthovita’s Vitoss scaffolds are marketed specifically for the purpose of providing non-load bearing geometric support during new tissue growth. Aastrom’s tissue repair cells (TRCs), meanwhile, are a mixture of stem, stromal and progenitor cells produced from the patient’s own bone marrow. The TRCs are being used in phase I/II clinical trials which are evaluating the regeneration of new bone and blood vessels in patients.
The two companies believe that a broad range of orthopedic indications will benefit from the combination of Vitoss and tissue repair cells (TRCs) to regenerate tissue.
The first phase of this collaboration is already underway, with Orthovita’s Vitoss scaffolds being used for patient treatment in Aastrom’s phase I/II clinical trial in Barcelona, Spain for severe non-union fractures.
As part of the collaboration agreement, Aastrom and Orthovita are exploring additional clinical indications that could benefit from the combination of TRCs and Vitoss.
The two companies anticipate that negotiations and planning for the expansion of the collaboration into a longer-term relationship will be finalized during calendar year 2006.