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New Stem Cell Treatment Could Be Ailing Dogs’ Best Friend

Stem cells are versatile enough to have shown promise in treating a variety of conditions from neurodegenerative diseases to cardiac, ophthalmic, autoimmune and skin diseases. One largely untapped market segment, which is being explored by locally based Animal Cell Therapies Inc., is the development of a stem cell therapy for orthopedic conditions in dogs.

Animal Cell Therapies CEO Adam Irving said the company is partnering with veterinarian orthopedic surgeons across the United States to develop its technology, which is expected to come to fruition in the next 12 to 18 months. Irving anticipates being able to commercialize a product for veterinarians and pet owners by January 2014.

The market potential is promising. Of the thousand or so companies in the world working with stem cells, only about 10 of them focus on therapies for animals, Irving says. Yet, 39 percent of American households own a dog, and an estimated 78 million dogs are in the U.S., according to American Pet Products Association 2011-12 data. Targeting orthopedic ailments is a potentially lucrative venture, according to Irving, who says 16 million dogs have arthritis. Secondarily, Irving sees opportunity in providing a therapy for tendon and ligament ailments.

“There’s a significant unmet need,” Irving said. “In some cases, the orthopedic opportunity in dogs is bigger than it is in human medicine.”

Few Competitors

Competition is also scarce, according to Irving, who says that among the animal biotech companies focused on stem cells only a few have an orthopedic product for animals: Vet-Stem Inc. of Poway, MediVet of Kentucky and StemLogix of Florida.

“None of them have even 1 percent share of the market,” Irving says. “It’s a testament to the opportunity for all of us.”

Founded in 2008, Animal Cell Therapies is currently on the cusp of growth at its business office in La Jolla and laboratory in Sorrento Valley. The company just added three members to its staff to bring its employee count to eight. Joining the firm are Preston Munsch, head of business development; Dr. Chih-Min Lin, senior director of research and development; and Dr. Zhongling Feng, director of product development. The company’s goal is to double the size of its team in the next six to 12 months. And Animal Cell Therapies initiated a private placement offering last quarter that is expected to bring in $5 million when it closes in the next 30 to 60 days, Irving said.

Among the 30 or so individual angel investors in the company is Gary Petrucci, who is also on the company’s board of directors. Petrucci said he convinced his daughter, veterinarian Kathryn Petrucci, to found Animal Cell Therapies after seeing the work done with human stem cell therapy at Stemedica Cell Technologies Inc., where he is a board member. Gary Petrucci said Stemedica, a San Diego biopharmaceutical company that develops and manufactures adult stem cell products for use in clinical and pre-clinical trials, started a half dozen years ago utilizing Russian technology in the field, which he described as far superior to U.S. technology.

Legs to Stand On

While Gary Petrucci sees great potential for the human market as well as the animal market, he said focusing on treating ligaments in the hind legs of dogs alone is a $3 billion market.

“To me, it’s investing in a brand new technology that has enormous value in size and scale,” Gary Petrucci said. “I’ve invested a lot of venture capital in the past but stem cell research is probably the most exciting one in terms of outside potential.”

Gary Petrucci said the company believes there are other ailments that can be treated with stem cell therapy and is hopeful of proving stem cell therapy as a good alternative to surgery.

Dr. Roger Kuhn, a veterinarian who owns three veterinary hospitals in the San Francisco Bay Area, said up-to-date knee surgery for dogs costs in the range of $3,000 to $5,000, although it can be less for small dogs and less advanced surgeries. He added that more than half the dogs that injure their knee will wind up injuring their other knee within six to nine months.

The availability of stem cell injections would not only eliminate the need for surgery but it would also cancel the need for hospitalization, anesthesia, nursing care and physical therapy, Kuhn said.

“It’s probably the number one surgery that’s performed other than spays or neuters,” he said.

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