Pure Stem Cell Procedures a First for Athritis Breakthrough

January 18 2016

For Immediate Release

Pure Stem Cell Procedures a ‘First’ for Athritis Breakthrough in New Zealand

Leading edge stem cell technology company Queenstown Regenerative Medicine (QRM) is bringing the latest world-class procedures to New Zealand.

QRM is the first in New Zealand to bring Pure Expanded Stem Cell (PESC) and Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF) to its Auckland clinics, meaning osteoarthritis sufferers around the country will no longer have to fly to Australia for these breakthrough treatments.

Queenstown Regenerative Medicine (QRM), for many years, has been the only laboratory clinic in New Zealand offering Pure Expanded Stem Cell technology, developed in close co-operation with their Australian colleagues at Monash and Melbourne Universities.

Professors Richard Boyd and Andrew French, of Queenstown Regenerative Medicine, have also been involved with Melbourne’s Magellan lab, setting the standards for the field.

These procedures are “a blessing” for many osteoarthritis sufferers who have to manage daily pain and loss of function with analgesics and steroids, according to Marcelle Noble, director of patient care at QRM.

The healing properties of the stem cells in the PESC or SVF procedure kickstarts the natural rejuvenation and repair processes of the body. This reduces swelling and pain, restoring function to joints affected by osteoarthritis.

Australia’s Melbourne Stem Cell Centre, which has close ties with QRM, conducted trials with expanded stem cells in 2014 - 2016. Several of the participants had documented cartilage regrowth in a knee joint in one of the first trials in the world to show cartilage regrowth in a human trial. These results are encouraging for future applications of expanded stem cell technology.

However, the real success story is the documented improvement in quality of life. Many stem cell patients have been able to avoid joint replacement procedures and as the technology matures, QRM is confident this trend will accelerate.

Expanded stem cell procedures are labour intensive with many hours of laboratory time, and as such are priced out of range for many people.

SVF technology has traditionally been more in line with what many people will spend on medical procedures but has had some significant safety concerns.

The US derived portable bench top machines, used to produce SVF by General Practitioners in Australia/NZ, have recently come under scrutiny by the Australian regulator. These automated machines are being called into question because they are operated with a flow cytometer, which is only designed to count objects passing through the counting chamber, with neither verification of type and viability of the cells nor sterility testing procedures. At QRM the difference is it verifies the type of stem cells and its viability before injecting the patient.

To develop a more cost-sensitive product and address authorities’ concerns, Queenstown Regenerative Medicine’s stromal vascular fraction technology (SVF) is carried out in a designated sterile biological hood within the Queenstown facility. This combines proven existing laboratory based cell viability testing with an independent outside screening for sterility, in order to prevent infection. This process is naturally much more time consuming than the two-hour turnaround offered currently in the market but provides patients with the peace of mind for a safe and effective stem cell injection and is in line with the concerns voiced by the scientific community in Australia and New Zealand.

By developing its own process, QRM does not pay licensing fees to the US-based manufacturer and is passing savings onto their patients. Combined with QRM’s state-of-the-art DAA-certified theatres and independently monitored sterility testing provides, this provides an affordable entry-level stem cell treatment option for the first time.

There are many procedures touted as “stem cells” with little or no actual live stem cells in the product supplied to the patient. Only QRM protocols ensure a verifiable amount of live mesenchymal stem cells is present in the sample.

Both SVF and PESC start with a minor liposuction procedure where an adipose sample is harvested. The adipose sample is first washed in a saline solution and then subjected to enzyme digestion to remove the unwanted cells and create the SVF. At this point the SVF is tested for viability and sterility.

For PESC the SVF is incubated in a patented process under sterile conditions for several weeks to expand the solution to 95% pure mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

“When presented with stem cells of this purity, clinicians can begin to create dosage guidelines that are replicable from patient to patient,” said Professor Andrew French of QRM.

QRM also operates a cryogenic-freezing storage facility and will offer this service to both PESC and SVF patients so they may preserve their cells for future use.

Marcelle Noble said not everyone was a candidate for stem cell therapy.

“We interview prospective patients beforehand and look at their medical history. We’ve developed guidelines to achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients. Beyond the care we take with our Pure Expanded Stem Cell protocol, we’ve found that a physiotherapy regime, before and post-procedure, by a physiotherapist who understands the special requirements around stem cell therapy, increases the rate of success.

“Additionally, we recommend braces to provide unloading of the treated joint as part of the recovery process.”

“The world is standing at the forefront of this emerging medical technology that is poised to change the way we live in the coming decades.”
ENDS

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