eQcell Inc., Canada’s first company to be authorized by Health Canada for the clinical testing of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for the treatment of equine arthritis, is pleased to announce the receipt of an investment in common equity of C$4.8 million.
Guelph, Ontario, Canada | December 21, 2021
eQcell Inc., Canada’s first company to be authorized by Health Canada for the clinical testing of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for the treatment of equine arthritis, is pleased to announce the receipt of an investment in common equity of C$4.8 million.
This investment provides the company with the necessary funding to advance its clinical development program through completion of a pivotal trial should the early data support such an application and continue the expansion of its therapeutic pipeline in regenerative medicine aimed at the equine, canine and human cell-based market. eQcell is currently conducting clinical trials in client-owned horses at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and the Ontario Veterinary College.
eQcell’s MSCs result from some 15 years of both research in, development of and treatment of horses with MSCs at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College, recognized as within the top five veterinary universities in the world. The clinical development program in osteoarthritis is intended to pursue One Health principles which recognize that genetically-diverse, large companion and sporting animals represent physiologically-relevant models of the disease that affects humans equally as animals. Osteoarthritis is the most common cause of chronic lameness in horses, the fastest growing cause of disability in humans worldwide, and for which there is no cure.
The horse provides the closest approximation to humans in terms of articular cartilage and the One Health process is a continuum from the safety and efficacy data in veterinary trials supporting the development of the platform in the human indication.
The established path to market in the veterinary indication is significantly shorter than in the human, resulting in early revenues for a successful development, while the equine safety and efficacy data hold the prospect of importantly-reducing the failure rate in late-stage human clinical trials that are reportedly ~30% at Phase II and greater than 55% in Phase III.
Clinical trial information requests may be addressed to:
Dr. Judith Koenig – Equine Sports Medicine & Reproduction Centre, Ontario Veterinary College jkoenig@uoguelph.ca
For further information on eQcell:
Dr. Larry Galuppo – Veterinary Institute for Regenerative Cures, UC Davis ldgaluppo@ucdavis.edu
Dr. Thomas G Koch - CEO and CSO - tkoch@eqcell.com