Fusion IP spins Progenteq out of Cardiff University

Spin out

Fusion IP plc, the quoted university commercialisation specialist, has created a new spin-out company, Progenteq Ltd, under its exclusive agreement with Cardiff University.

Progenteq is developing a novel cartilage replacement therapy for the treatment of acute knee injuries.

The company is founded on the work of Charlie Archer’s connective tissue research group at Cardiff’s School of Biosciences. The group has isolated a defined population of cells from the articular cartilage which surrounds the main bones in the knee joint.  

These cells have stem cell-like properties and can be expanded in the laboratory to produce very large quantities of cartilage.  

The cells could be used for allogeneic cartilage replacement therapy, in which cells derived from donors are used to grow a tissue bank of cartilage that is stored and ready for insertion into patients with acute knee injuries, as and when needed.  

This promises a more cost-effective cell therapy than current autologous approaches, where cells are removed from a patient, expanded and then implanted into the same patient.  

The successful development of a cartilage cell bank could also pave the way for treatment of degenerative cartilage damage such as that seen in osteoarthritis.

David Baynes, CEO of Fusion IP, said. “Although this is an early stage project, an allogeneic approach has been described as the holy grail of cartilage repair. We believe that Professor Archer’s discovery may be the key and as such it has the potential to revolutionise the way we treat acute knee injuries.”