Orthocell Announces Positive Results in Rotator Cuff Trial

Australian company Orthocell announced positive results for their OrthoATI™ treatment in a clinical trial on rotator cuff tendinopathy. The trial compared the Orthocell treatment to cortisone injection, which is the current standard treatment. Of the 19 patients who received OrthoATI™, 18 patients recovered function and their pain continued to be resolved 12 months after treatment; the improvement in 18 of 19 people yields a 95% success rate. Patients in the cortisone injection group had some improvement in pain for up to 3 months, but then the pain returned and they had no improvement in function overall. Most of the cortisone patients wanted to continue on to try the OrthoATI treatment, and a cross-over study was begun to see if the treatment could help them too (see 9/30/2022 blog post for the positive results).

The patients received the Orthocell injection but did not have shoulder surgery. The stem cells in the injection worked to heal the tendon without the need for surgery. The patients did have to undergo a biopsy from a healthy tendon to collect the cells needed for the injection.