Delivery Method is Crucial: New Likarda Publication on Cell Therapy for Osteoarthritis

We're excited to share our latest peer-reviewed publication investigating a common practice in regenerative medicine: combining multipotent stromal cells (MSCs) with hyaluronic acid (HA) for knee osteoarthritis (OA).

🔬 Key Findings:

• ✔ The combination of MSCs and a commercial HA product failed to improve joint regeneration compared to MSCs alone

• ✔ While MSCs alone showed modest signs of cartilage improvement, these benefits were lost when delivered with HA

• ✔ The addition of HA did not result in better joint integrity or reduced pain in the rat OA model

💡 Why It Matters:
While MSCs offer promise for treating knee OA, challenges like keeping cells localized in the joint remain. This study underscores that the choice of a delivery vehicle is critical, as a commercially available HA not only failed to enhance but negated the therapeutic potential of MSCs, providing crucial insights for future cell therapy development.