Dr. Robert Spiro,?Senior Vice President, Biologics, Development, Scientific and Clinical Affairs at Aesculap Biologics, LLC joins Dr. Brian Cole and Steve Kashul to discuss biologic challenges faced in treating damaged cartilage and the importance of restoring damaged cartilage in preserving joint integrity. They also discuss technology currently in development for cartilage injury treatment and eligibility in a current Aesculap clinical trial.
About Knee Cartilage
Your knee is under a lot of pressure, so it?s no wonder that just one false move can result in injury to the ligaments and cartilage in the joint. Cartilage is the surface on the ends of the bones in your knee that allow the joint?s surfaces to glide friction-free. Symptoms of knee cartilage injuries include pain, swelling, popping in the joint and locking of the joint. Daily activities such as sitting down, standing up, or walking up stairs may become difficult. Fortunately, there are a variety of treatment options available to help alleviate your symptoms.
Causes of Cartilage Injuries
Knee cartilage may be injured through activity, trauma, or a disease such as osteochondritis dessicans that affects the bone beneath the cartilage and causes the overlaying cartilage to ?blister.? These types of injuries are called focal defects because they usually affect a portion of the cartilage in that joint.
Dr. Spiro received his BSc from McGill University, Montreal, Canada and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA. His academic career included a Post-Doctoral fellowship and Assistant Professorship in the Department of Immunology at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, CA with research focused on cancer immunology and the extracellular matrix.
His industry career spans several start-up companies including Telios Pharmaceuticals, Orquest Inc., Fibrogen Inc., ISTO Technologies and Carbylan Therapeutics. ?He has been involved in the design and development of wound healing, orthopedic and spine drug, device and biologic-device combination products including the Healos? bone graft substitute, the DeNovo NT? Graft for cartilage repair, and the InQu? bone graft substitute.
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