Mesoblast

Mesoblast Limited is an Australian-based regenerative medicine company. It seeks to provide treatments for inflammatory ailments, cardiovascular disease and back pain. The company is led by Silviu Itescu, who founded the company in 2004.

The company is developing a range of regenerative products derived from its proprietary mesenchymal lineage cells. This includes Mesenchymal Precursor Cells (MPCs) and Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs).

Highly purified and immunoselected MPCs and the culture expanded MSCs give rise to secrete trophic factors that then exert multiple mechanisms of action. Mesenchymal lineage precursors have the ability to detect injury and inflammation and respond to local stimuli and signals from the injured tissue by releasing a wide range of biomolecules (growth factors, chemokines, enzymes etc.) that induce the body’s own tissue to grow and regenerate, effectively repairing the injury. Which specific factors are released by the mesenchymal precursors in any given tissue presumably depends on the signals they encounter from the damaged tissue itself. For example, with back pain, the MPCs are injected into the damaged disc in order to regenerate it. Much like a tire jack, it re-inflates the degenerated disc to provide the spine the stability and flexibility it once had.

Back pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide. In the United States alone, there are over 6 million patients suffering from chronic back pain that has persisted for three months or more. In 2010, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reported that low back pain was the leading cause of pain, affecting 28% of American adults. The United States lifetime prevalence of low back pain is estimated to be at least 60-84%. The total costs of low back pain are estimated to be between $100 billion and $200 billion annually, two thirds of which are due to decreased wages and productivity. Current treatments include physical therapy, steroid injections, light exercise, massage and pain killers. If those treatments fail, then potentially invasive and costly surgery is usually recommended, but not always successful.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 5.1 million people in the United States have heart failure. Approximately half of people who develop heart failure die within five years of diagnosis. In addition, it is estimated that heart failure costs the U.S. $32 billion each year. This includes the cost of medications, health care services and lost productivity at work.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a complication that can occur after a stem cell or bone marrow transplant in which the newly transplanted donor cells attack the transplant recipient's body.

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