EXTON, Pa., May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kensey Nash Corporation (Nasdaq: KNSY) announced that its cartilage repair device has been highlighted in two podium presentations at the 8th World Congress of the International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) Meeting held in Miami, FL on May 23-26, 2009. The pre-clinical findings demonstrate the potential for Kensey Nash's proprietary tissue engineering implant to repair damaged articular cartilage.
These presentations detailed two studies, which have been designed to evaluate the safety and performance of the Kensey Nash Cartilage Repair Device (CRD) in a simulated clinical application prior to initiating a formal clinical investigation, which is ultimately necessary for U.S. FDA marketing approval. The first study, being performed with the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, demonstrated superior healing characteristics for the CRD in a preclinical study when compared with microfracture after 4 months of treatment. The microfracture technique is the current standard for articular cartilage treatment. The second study, performed in collaboration with the Comparative Orthopaedic Research Laboratory at the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, examined the CRD in a pre-clinical model at 6 and 12 months. This study indicated that cartilage defects treated with the CRD repaired more rapidly than controls. The data also suggested that the de novo tissue formed in the CRD at 12 months is mechanically sound and durable, and resembles natural articular cartilage. Both studies showed that the CRD had the ability to remain at the site of implantation independently, providing a significant advantage over devices requiring additional means of fixation.
'The results on our cartilage repair device are encouraging,' commented Russell T. Kronengold, Ph.D., VP of Biomaterials R&D of Kensey Nash Corporation. 'The tissue repaired within the defect and its integration with healthy adjacent tissue is favorable when compared to that observed in various previous efforts to repair articular cartilage. These pre-clinical results support our belief that we have created a sophisticated solution for the treatment of focal articular cartilage defects by providing a device with the requisite biomechanical and biological properties for promoting osteochondral repair,' he concluded.
The CRD is a composite of several resorbable biomaterials, utilizing the Company's proprietary collagen technology, and beta-tricalcium phosphate mineral suspended in a synthetic polymer Porous Tissue Matrix (PTM). This device architecture is designed to repair damaged articular cartilage.
