About 10 percent of Americans have knee osteoarthritis. The condition causes pain that severely affects mobility and quality of life. It often begins with a cartilage injury. In some cases, it might be from high‑school or college sports. Over time, it worsens, leading to cartilage and bone loss in the joint.

Current treatments focus on pain control or surgery. Medications help only temporarily, and knee replacement is effective but invasive, costly, and requires long recovery.

CIRM funding

That’s why the CIRM Board voted to invest almost $6 million in an innovative stem cell therapy designed to restore articular cartilage in the knee. Dr. Frank Petrigliano, Chief of the Epstein Family Center for Sports Medicine at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), is using pluripotent stem cells to create chondrocytes (the cells responsible for cartilage formation) and then seeding those onto a scaffold.

The scaffold is surgically implanted at the knee injury site. Scientific data suggest the seeded scaffold can regenerate damaged cartilage and reduce the likelihood of progression to osteoarthritis. Compared with current methods, this new treatment could offer an off‑the‑shelf option that is less costly, easier to administer, and may slow or prevent osteoarthritis.

Late-stage preclinical

This is a late‑stage preclinical program. The goals are to manufacture a clinical‑grade product, complete extensive safety studies, and submit an IND application to the FDA to begin human testing.

“Damage to knee cartilage can seriously affect quality of life,” says Dr. Maria T. Millan, CIRM President and CEO. “It causes pain and makes everyday tasks—walking, climbing stairs, bending, squatting, kneeling—much harder. Developing a way to repair or replace damaged cartilage and prevent osteoarthritis progression could help millions. This program builds on earlier CIRM‑funded Basic Biology and Translational work and shows how CIRM supports projects from early stages toward the clinic.”