A PERTH regenerative medicine company has investors excited after its treatment using pig parts helped several injured patients – including a former NRL player – regain normal limb function.
Orthocell share value rose sevenfold between the start of trade on Wednesday and early in Thursday’s session, and – despite a slight retreat – were on Friday still up about 300 per cent for the week.
The eye-popping move came after the company reported “incredible” results from the first four patients treated with its CelGro product – a membrane made of pig collagen that aims to augment tissue repair and regeneration following microsurgery.
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READ NOWPatients had their badly damaged nerves wrapped together using CelGro – rather than sutured together as they would be in traditional surgery – and two years later had regained the use of their limbs and returned to normal activities.
“The surgery can be very complex and difficult, but using CelGro has enabled us to rejoin severed nerves without tension,” orthopaedic nerve specialist Dr Alex O’Beirne, of Perth’s St John of God Subiaco Hospital, said in a company statement.
“I am very pleased with the patients’ progress, regaining use of affected limbs faster than I would have expected and they continue to improve.”
On the 0-to-5 scale used to grade muscle function and power, the patients all went from a 0 to a 4, Orthocell says.
Former Dragons prop Daniel Hunt said he was left with no feeling in his right shoulder following football injuries and couldn’t even pick up his kids.
“I’m living a normal life now,” he said in the company’s statement.
“I can pick up my kids and I even swam a duo to Rottnest!”
About 200 patients have been treated with CelGro, Orthocell managing director Paul Anderson told AAP.
The product is the result of research by University of Western Australia professor Minghao Zheng, a pathologist and the company’s co-founder.
The company looked at harvesting collagen from six different sources, including kangaroos, before settling on pig mesoderm.
“Australia has the purest porcine material in the world,” Mr Anderson said.
“Of the 13 viruses that we have to test for in Europe, nine of them don’t even exist in Australia.”
Aside from helping damaged nerves regrow Orthocell says the CelGro membrane can be used in bone grafts and tendon repair.
“It’s a huge market, a multi-billion market, that is really looking for the next generation of [regenerative medicine] scaffolds to assist in consistent and predictable outcomes,” Mr Anderson said.
“We find ourself in the right space, in the right time, with the right suite of products.”