From IMPACT to RECLAIM: A Single-Stage Cell Therapy for Articular Cartilage Repair and a Platform for Musculoskeletal Tissue Regeneration

Purpose of Review: Cartilage injury does not heal spontaneously. The current cell-based cartilage treatments have either demonstrated poor clinical outcomes, require two surgeries, or are costly and logistically challenging. To overcome these challenges, our team has developed a one-stage, two cell-type surgical cell therapy for acute chondral defects. This procedure combines allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and autologous chondrons to harness MSCs as signaling cells to stimulate chondrons to promote tissue repair. This procedure has been investigated in clinical trials conducted in both Europe and the United States which are called IMPACT and RECLAIM, respectively. This article provides a review of our preclinical and clinical research which led to the development of this cell therapy. Recent Findings: The combination of allogeneic MSCs and autologous chondrons in preclinical studies have demonstrated to synergistically stimulate cartilage repair, and the combination of cells outperforms either cell-type alone. In clinical trials, the combined cell therapy was safe to use, improved knee function, and demonstrated durable pain reduction. Summary: Our single-stage, combined cell therapy of allogeneic MSCs and autologous chondrons is a viable cell therapy for acute articular cartilage defects. We anticipate this combined cell therapy may be a platform cell therapy for a wide range of musculoskeletal repair applications.