WCPO: DOD-backed clinical trial begins at UC

Amplicore, a UC spinoff biopharmaceutical company that is backed by the UC Venture Lab, has created a regenerative pharmaceutical solution for meniscal tears. Its injectable therapeutics are designed to be used alongside suturing of the damaged tissue to create a more pro-reparative, regenerative environment that reduces the odds of failure.

The injuries are of particular concern to the military.

“Muscular skeletal injuries in general are tremendously impactful to military personnel,” said Brian Grawe, MD, professor at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the UC College of Medicine.  “It’s estimated that 25 million days are lost to active duty a year just on muscular skeletal injuries alone.”

Amplicore is using Simvastatin, an already Food and Drug Administration-approved drug used to treat high cholesterol, and redesigned its properties to create a treatment to change how meniscus tears are treated.

“The ultimate goal here is not to just treat the tissue itself but bring back the biomechanical function and for this reason, I think the military was very intrigued by our technology,” said James C. Y. Lin, PhD, Mary S. and Joseph S. Stern Jr. Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and founder of Amplicore.

UC is the primary site for the research, and patients also will be enrolled at other sites across the United States, including Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

See more from WCPO.