Grant: Project Grant

Osteoarthritis (OA) affects one in six Canadians and is anticipated to result in a total economic burden of ~$1.45 trillion CAD in Canada by 2040. Current treatments such as steroid injections offer only short-term relief, while surgical interventions such as total joint replacements are expensive and challenging for older patients. Viscosupplementation, the injection of a hydrogel into the joint to replace or enhance the lubrication functions of the synovial fluid, has been widely used as an alternative to other current therapies. However, current viscosupplements are all based on a single material that has a very short residence time in the joint and at best provides temporary relief. We have developed a new injectable hydrogel formulation that is longer lasting (>6 months), more lubricious, and more consistent than the current leading viscosupplements; furthermore, given that our material gels inside the joint, we can inject stiffer materials into the joint via a minimally-invasive route that can also at least partially supplement the role of native cartilage, a unique attribute among reported viscosupplements that has already shown preliminary benefits in treating horses with OA. In this project, we will directly address the key translational barriers around bringing this technology to the clinic: (1) optimizing and scaling the material production process; (2) understanding the biological mechanisms around how our viscosupplements perform in both a cartilage tissue model and a rabbit knee OA model; and (3) performing an in vivo validation experiment in the dog OA model most commonly accepted by regulators for initiating Phase 1 human clinical trials. Coupling these key results with existing partnerships with a Canadian company with expertise in viscosupplementation and leading Canadian OA clinicians with experience conducting OA clinical trials is anticipated to facilitate translation of this technology to the clinic to address the urgent needs of OA patients.