A New Generation of Stem Cell Therapy Launches To The Public

The ANOVA Institute for Regenerative Medicine has opened in Frankfurt, Germany, offering treatment approaches based on stem cells and their secretome. For many conditions, currently available medications are directed mainly at symptoms rather than at the underlying disease process. This is the case across orthopedic problems such as osteoarthritis or cartilage-related damage, as well as severe neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease or ALS. Approaches that aim to address disease processes at a cellular level are of growing scientific and clinical interest, and this is the rationale behind ANOVA’s work in regenerative medicine.

At the ANOVA Institute for Regenerative Medicine, stem cells and their secretome are applied as part of this approach, drawing on published scientific research and clinical experience in how degenerative diseases might be treated.

Stem cell therapies have long been of interest for their therapeutic potential. As the body’s own building blocks, stem cells have regenerative properties and may also modulate immune responses, which could be relevant to diseases in which the immune system malfunctions, such as many autoimmune or chronic inflammatory conditions.

Several thousand clinical trials involve stem cells in one way or another. Much of this research is based on autologous (patient’s own) mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which can be obtained relatively easily from bone marrow or fat tissue and have shown regenerative potential in research. Earlier results were not always consistent, as in some cases the MSCs appeared to remain inactive.

Around 2010, the importance of extracellular vesicles became more widely recognized. Research suggests that a substantial part of the activity associated with mesenchymal stem cells may be mediated by the factors they secrete, rather than by the cells growing in the body and replacing damaged tissue, as had originally been assumed. The stem cell secretome consists of small “communication vesicles” (soluble paracrine factors) that interact with surrounding cells and, in turn, with the local tissue environment and the immune system. Preclinical and early clinical research has reported anti-inflammatory, neurotrophic, angiotrophic, immunomodulatory, anti-apoptotic, neuroprotective and anti-oxidative properties among these secreted factors, contributing to growing scientific interest in the therapeutic potential of the stem cell secretome.

Scientific interest in these extracellular vesicles grew considerably once the regenerative potential of micro-RNA-carrying exosomes, microvesicles, chemokines and cytokines produced by stem cells was recognized. This gave rise to an approach in which stem cells are used to obtain these secreted factors under controlled laboratory conditions, rather than relying on the direct injection of living stem cells in the hope that they will secrete such substances in situ. This approach may offer advantages over the administration of living cells, and is designed to provide the relevant factors in a more standardized and controlled form.

The ANOVA Institute for Regenerative Medicine has developed and applies such a method in its treatment of a range of conditions. The approach is designed to obtain stem-cell-derived factors under controlled laboratory conditions and to administer them in a defined and consistent way. It also allows treatment to be structured as a series of applications over a longer period — addressing a limitation often noted when stem cells are used for chronic or degenerative conditions, where a single injection can act only for a limited time.

Because it is cell-free, this approach is also intended to reduce certain risks associated with the administration of living stem cells. It is designed to provide selected stem-cell-derived factors in a more standardized and controlled form, while avoiding some of the intrinsic risks that have contributed to living-cell therapies remaining less standardized.

Controlled clinical results will take some years to establish. Stem-cell-based approaches continue to be investigated across the range of diseases in which stem cells are currently applied.

ANOVA treats patients with ALS — a severe and currently intractable disease — in cooperation with Prof. Bonnetti of the University of Verona, who carries out the pre- and post-treatment assessment. In the absence of public funding, these patients are currently treated at material cost, in order to gather clinical experience as quickly as possible. Early observations from this treatment have been encouraging and warrant further evaluation. ANOVA has made similar early observations in patients treated for Parkinson’s disease; for this indication, clinical studies of mesenchymal stem cells so far provide early and still limited findings that require further investigation.

Orthopedic conditions such as osteoarthritis and cartilage-related damage are a further area in which these approaches are applied, including in athletes with sports-related joint and cartilage problems.

Laboratory research also suggests that the stem cell secretome may influence some of the mechanisms involved in cellular aging, which has attracted interest in the cosmetic field.

Under the direction of Dr. mult. Michael K. Stehling, the ANOVA Institute for Regenerative Medicine brings together a multidisciplinary team to provide patients with diagnostics and care informed by current developments in research. The private clinic has more than ten years of experience in diagnostics, interventional radiology and translational medicine. The Institute for Regenerative Medicine extends this work into the application of stem-cell- and secretome-based approaches.

Stem-cell-based and secretome therapies remain developing medical approaches. The available evidence varies by indication, individual outcomes cannot be predicted, and treatment is provided only following an individual medical assessment.

The ANOVA Institute for Regenerative Medicine is located in at Strahlenberger Str. 110, Frankfurt/Offenbach, Germany, approximately 15 minutes from the Airport. More information can be found at https://anova-irm.com/ or by calling +49 69 50 50 00 944.

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