Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health has announced the launch of Arti-Cell Forte, the first stem cell-based veterinary medicine to get marketing authorisation for treating equine lameness, calling it a 'breakthrough medicine for degenerative joint disease in horses'.

Amy Scott MRCVS, Boehringer Ingehlheim’s performance horse portfolio manager, said: "Arti-Cell Forte is the first 'ready-to-use' stem cell-based product to be licensed in any veterinary species, and the only stem cell treatment to contain induced cells, representing a significant leap forward in both stem cell therapies and medicine as a whole.

"Arti-Cell Forte contains stem cells that have been chondrogenically induced and therefore primed to develop into the cartilage cell lineage. Studies have shown that chondrogenically induced stem cells demonstrate an enhanced clinical outcome compared to un-induced stem cells in the treatment of joint disease in horses¹."

"This makes Arti-Cell Forte a highly targeted and effective treatment for cartilage damage associated with degenerative joint disease."

Arti-Cell Forte is available direct from Boehringer Ingelheim to veterinary practitioners.

It needs to be stored at ultra-low temperatures to maintain its two year shelf life from manufacture, either frozen at -70 ⁰C to -90 ⁰C (dry ice, -80 ⁰C freezer) or -196 ⁰C (liquid nitrogen) until immediately prior to injecting.

The company is providing full training on storage and administration via face-to-face CPD at practice meetings or specific CPD events*.  

For more information, contact your local territory manager or ring Boehringer's Technical Services Team on 01344 746957, or email vetenquiries@boehringer-ingelheim.com

Reference

1. Spaas, J.H., Broeckx, S.Y., Chiers, K., Ferguson, S.J., Casarosa, M., Van Bruaene, N., Forsyth, R., Duchateau, L., Franco- Obregón, A., Wuertz-Kozak, K., 2015. Chondrogenic priming at reduced cell density enhances cartilage adhesion of equine allogeneic MSCs - a loading sensitive phenomenon in an organ culture study with 180 explants. Cell. Physiol. Biochem. 37, 651–665.

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