What are the potential uses for Mesoblasts adult stem cells, MPCs?
MPCs have the ability to differentiate into a variety of tissues, create their own blood supply and induce the body’s own healthy cells to regenerate and proliferate. At this stage, their potential is unlimited; however Mesoblast will initially concentrate on the development of MPC technology for the treatment of orthopaedic diseases such as degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, long bone fractures and cartilage degeneration. Mesoblast’s sister company in the United States, Angioblast Systems Inc, is focusing on cardiovascular diseases including heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. Using the same technology platform, a clinical Pilot Trial of up to 10 patients suffering from severe, multi-coronary artery disease is currently being conducted at the John Hunter Hospital in New South Wales . This is an autologous trial but future trials are all expected to use cells from an unrelated (allogeneic) donor.
