STTR Phase I: Injectable Biotherapeutic for Treatment of Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis

这个小型企业技术转移（STTR）一期项目开发了一种治疗创伤后骨关节炎（PTOA）的注射疗法。上睑下垂是一种由外力引起的软骨疼痛疾病。目前治疗上睑下垂的方法包括侵入性手术-全关节置换术-这通常与感染相关，可能需要翻修膝关节置换术。对于这些患者，没有治疗骨关节炎的药物，也没有非手术治疗方法。虽然有些药物有助于减轻疼痛，但它们对疾病进展没有影响，而且由于潜在的严重副作用，它们的使用受到很大限制。这种解决方案是第一种也是唯一一种减缓上睑下垂进展的治疗方法，它将防止上睑下垂患者可能遭受终生的痛苦和费用。因此，客户将有可能节省数千美元，获得内心的平静，因为他们已经采取了唯一的行动来帮助预防骨关节炎的发展，最重要的是，防止了不断增加的疼痛、医疗问题和与他们的伤害相关的治疗的循环。这个小型企业技术转移（STTR）一期项目将导致一种优化的、去免疫的治疗方法，改变创伤后骨关节炎（pta）的疾病进展。该解决方案结合了一种独特的热反应性水凝胶载体，能够持续递送治疗性蛋白质，通过单次注射递送时能够改变疾病，避免了全关节置换术的手术过程。最先进的计算工具将被用来提高水凝胶的性能和实验测试结构的功能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project develops an injectable therapeutic to treat post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). PTOA is a painful disease of the cartilage caused by external mechanical force. The current treatment for PTOA involves an invasive surgical procedure - total joint replacement - which is often associated with infections and may need a revision knee replacement. There is no disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug nor a non-surgical cure for these patients. While some drugs help mitigate pain, they have no effect on disease progression, and their use can be limited greatly by their potential severe side effects. This solution serves as the first and only treatment to slow the progression of PTOA, which would prevent PTOA patients from potentially suffering a lifetime of pain and expenses. As a result, customers will potentially save thousands of dollars, acquire peace of mind that they have taken the only action to help prevent the development of osteoarthritis, and most of all, prevent a cycle of increasing pain, medical issues, and associated treatments with their injury. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will lead to an optimized, deimmunized therapeutic that changes the disease progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). The solution combines a unique thermoresponsive hydrogel carrier capable of sustained delivery of a therapeutic protein that enables disease modification when delivered via a single injection, avoiding the surgical procedure in total joint replacement. State-of-the-art computational tools will be employed to improve the properties of the hydrogel and experimentally test the constructs for function.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.