Osteoarthritis Treatment: A Breakthrough New Drug to Prevent Cartilage Loss

The landscape of osteoarthritis treatment has long been defined by its limitations, offering sufferers a choice between pain management or invasive joint surgery, both fraught with potential complications and neither addressing the root causes of the ailment.

Dr. Mildred Embree, an illuminating force within the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, is on a transformative mission. At the helm of the Cartilage Biology and Regenerative Medicine Lab, she’s unveiled a beacon of hope—StemJEL®. This patented osteoarthritis drug, a product of her groundbreaking research, transcends convention. It aims to intervene in the early-to-mid stages of the disease, not only alleviating pain but also safeguarding precious cartilage, rendering invasive joint replacement surgery an option of last resort. In her pursuit of rewriting the narrative of osteoarthritis treatment, Dr. Embree offers a glimpse into a future where relief and restoration harmonize seamlessly.

In their groundbreaking research, Dr. Mildred Embree and her accomplished postdoctoral collaborators, Dr. Mo Chen and Dr. Angela Ruscitto, embarked on a quest to unlock the secrets of joint health. Their journey led them to discover of a pivotal growth factor – sclerostin, nestled within the intricate tapestry of cartilage cell niches. With vision and innovation, they harnessed the power of this elusive factor, fashioning it into a remarkable injectable hydrogel therapy. Through many experiments involving rats, rabbits, and pigs, they unveiled its transformative potential in alleviating osteoarthritis and restoring the vitality of ailing joints.

Dr. Embree and Dr. Chen, co-architects of this pioneering research and co-founders of the biotechnology marvel, WNT Scientific, LLC., aspire to present their groundbreaking findings to the FDA in October, setting the stage for clinical trials. Their ultimate aim? To usher in a new era of hope for patients through StemJEL®, offering a beacon of relief and rejuvenation.

“Osteoarthritis is a major problem. As we live longer, our joints age and cartilage wears down,” Embree says. Osteoarthritis is emerging as the primary source of disability among our aging population, affecting an astounding 500 million individuals worldwide. “Despite so many people suffering from osteoarthritis, disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs are not available to patients,” Embree says.

Dr. Mildred Embree’s fervent dedication to unraveling its mysteries was a calling that manifested early in her scientific journey. “I love cartilage,” she says. “It’s beautiful under a microscope. But unlike other musculoskeletal tissues like bone, it does not have a blood supply and a source of circulating stem cells, so cartilage does not repair easily.”

Within the intricate anatomy of our joints, cartilage acts as nature’s cushion, enabling graceful, painless movement. Yet, this remarkable tissue lacks the innate capacity to regenerate or heal. Any affliction, be it injury or disease, that befalls it often leads to irreversible disability. Dr. Embree’s inquisitive spirit found its focus during her postdoctoral training, fixating on the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), where she sought to unravel the enigma of how the joint’s stem cells naturally craft cartilage.

In 2010, a pivotal moment crystallized when Dr. Embree and her research comrade, Dr. Mo Chen, who had crossed paths during their research sojourn at CDM, unveiled the guardian angel of cartilage – sclerostin. This revelation sparked the seeds of the StemJel® odyssey. The findings of their pioneering work graced the pages of Nature Communications in 2016, setting a course for transformation.

The fruit of their labor bore such promising results that Dr. Embree and Dr. Chen garnered support from the NIH/NIDCR as Small Business Technology Transfer grants. These grants, designed to nurture early-stage research and development, and the Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program, a beacon of late-stage support beyond the usual scope of small business awards, are poised to usher their revolutionary products.

Dr. Embree’s foresight paints a concerning picture – by 2040, an estimated 79 million adults in the United States alone will confront the harrowing specter of arthritis in its various forms. “In response to deterioration either from injury or aging, we designed StemJEL® to mimic our own body’s natural ability to form and protect cartilage”, she says. This could bring a ray of hope to everyone burdened with sore and stiff joints.

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