Vet Biotech gets green light for horse stem cell therapy

Australian animal health company, Vet Biotechnology, has been given the green light to perform equine supply stem cell therapies for tendon and ligament injuries in Australia.

The Adelaide-based company was granted approval for the therapies by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), effective July 1.

Tendon and ligament injuries are of particular concern to competition horses -- in many instances, such injuries are career-limiting and are a major cause of equine wastage in the industry.

Vet Biotechnology will offer two equine stem cell services to horse owners in Australia through their veterinarians. Mesenchymal stem cells will be used for the regeneration of equine tendons and ligaments, and an umbilical cord blood stem cell collection and cryostorage service will be provided as an insurance policy in case of future injury.

Vet Biotechnology general manager Hugo Le Messurier said there were no ethical issues involved in the process.

"We use adult stem cells collected from bone marrow or umbilical cord at birth. Cells from a horse are taken and put it back into same horse," he explained.

More than 100 horses have been treated since the service was first made available in Europe more than two years ago. In Australia, between 3000-4000 horses suffer from ligament injuries each year.

Vet Biotechnology trained 76 veterinarians in April in preparation for the market launch. One of the world's leading experts and co-inventor of the equine stem cell therapy, Roger Smith, professor of equine orthopaedics at the Royal Veterinary College of London, led the veterinary training sessions which took place in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

The technique involves the aspiration of bone marrow from the sternum of the injured horse under standing sedation and local anesthetic. The stem cells extracted from the bone marrow are expanded at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide. A 12-month rehabilitation program follows the implanting of new cells.

Some of the most common orthopaedic injuries suffered by competition horses are to the suspensory ligament, and bowed tendons.

Vet Biotechnology, which is listed on the Newcastle Stock Exchange, has an exclusive licence from UK based VetCell BioScience to market its therapy in Australia and New Zealand.