Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
either the technology or the company to a larger entity with the
capacity to take the technology to the next level. To continue
developing a technology right through to market requires a company
to have a range of technical and managerial competencies, enough
money to grow and develop, and the capacity to eventually mass
produce the required technologies for the marketplace. Mesoblast
has been remarkably successful in these aspects.
Like most companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology
sectors, a core strategy for Mesoblast is to develop a comprehensive
intellectual property portfolio. Mesoblast holds a variety of patents,
including two recently awarded US patents that give them exclusive
rights to commercializing MPCs derived from dental pulp, fat and
bone marrow in the US market through to 2025 (Mesoblast Press
Release,
http://www.mesoblast.com
, 2011). The company also has
patent protection on composition of matter claims related to the
MPC products they have developed (Mesoblast FAQs,
http://www.
mesoblast.com
, 2011). Mesoblast are also hopeful that the US
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2010 will further provide
greater market protection from competition in relation to biologics,
thus extending the exclusive rights in the US market they are
currently targeting (Mesoblast FAQs,
http://www.mesoblast.com
,
2011).
Data from the US Clinical Trials Registry has Mesoblast products
undergoing investigation in ten clinical trials (
http://www.
ClinicalTrials.gov
). Of these, four are currently active, five are
recruiting and one is not yet recruiting. The majority of these trials
are studying the effectiveness of MPCs, including the company's
proprietary technology NeoFuse™ in degenerative disc disease and
other spinal disorders. One of the trials is recruiting patients who
have undergone an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in
order to test the safety and efficacy of injections of MPCs into the
knee on the healing process. Three of the trials are related to heart
conditions, including the one mentioned above using the company's
proprietary technology Revascor™.
Many of the results of these trials have so far proven hopeful for
the commercial future of the company. As mentioned above, Phase II
trials for Revascor™ have shown that heart muscle function
