Renovite - pioneering use of synthetic nanoclays in regenerative medicine

肌肉骨骼疾病是全球致残的主要原因，其中最常见和致残的疾病包括关节炎、背部和颈部疼痛、骨折和损伤。目前，英国每年仅在骨折治疗上的花费就超过20亿英镑，随着英国人口老龄化，这一费用将会增加。事实上，到2030年，预计23%的英国人口将超过65岁。许多骨折导致骨科手术，在大约10%的病例中，由于愈合不足需要重复手术。虽然肌肉骨骼疾病的患病率随着年龄的增长而增加，但年轻人也会受到影响，通常是在他们收入的高峰期。目前的骨愈合剂在刺激新骨生长方面非常有效，但依赖于非常高的剂量，这与一些危险的副作用有关，比如骨骼外的过度骨骼生长，炎症，有时在脊柱中使用时还会造成神经损伤。一个重要的限制因素是目前无法将骨剂定位在骨修复部位附近，以及其成本。英国创新基金允许雷诺沃斯（2017年从南安普顿大学分拆出来的一家年轻的骨科再生医学公司）将政府资助的数十年的肌肉骨骼研究转化为一种令人兴奋的创新产品，使骨愈合剂的使用更加精确，本地化，提高其安全性。这种新产品，Renovite，基于合成的纳米粘土生物材料，允许以更低的剂量使用治疗剂来达到同样的效果。此外，由于这些药物仅在与细胞接触时释放，因此它们可以以更有针对性的方式促进愈合，以更高的安全性和更低的成本改善临床结果。有了Innovate UK的这笔资金，雷诺沃斯将在产品进入首次人体试验之前，通过在非临床模型中创建监管机构要求的进一步数据，加速Renovite作为一种治疗药物的开发。最终，我们预计我们的新产品将为难以治疗的骨折和骨融合的组织再生提供一种新颖的解决方案，为英国经济、日益活跃、年轻的需要组织再生的人口以及老龄化人口提供一系列的好处。

Musculoskeletal conditions are the leading contributor to disability worldwide, with the most common and disabling conditions such as arthritis, back and neck pain, fractures and injuries. The UK currently spends over £2 bn/year on bone fractures alone and this cost is set to increase as the UK population ages. In fact, by 2030, it is expected that 23% of the UK population will be aged over 65\. Many bone fractures lead to orthopaedic operations that, in approximately 10% of cases, need to be repeated due to inadequate healing. While the prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions increases with age, younger people are also affected, often during their peak income-earning years.Current bone healing agents are very effective at stimulating new bone growth but rely on very high doses which have been associated with some dangerous side effects such as excess bone growth outside of skeleton, inflammation and sometimes nerve damage when used in the spine. An important limiting factor is the current inability to localise the bone agent close the site of bone repair, and its cost.Innovate UK funding has allowed Renovos, a young orthopaedic regenerative medicine company, spun out from the University of Southampton in 2017, to convert decades of government funded musculoskeletal research at the University into an exciting, innovative product, enabling the use of bone-healing agents in a more precise, localised manner, increasing their safety. This novel product, Renovite, based on a synthetic nanoclay biomaterial, allows use of the therapeutic agents at much lower doses for the same effect. Furthermore, because these agents are only released upon contact with cells, they can enhance healing in a more targeted manner to improve clinical outcomes with greater safety and at a lower cost.With this Innovate UK funding, Renovos will accelerate development of Renovite as a therapeutic by creating further data required by the regulators in non-clinical models before the product can progress into first in-man trials. Ultimately, we anticipate our new product will provide a novel solution for tissue regeneration for difficult-to-treat fractures and bone fusions, providing a range of benefits to the UK economy and for increasingly active, younger demographics requiring tissue regeneration, as well as an ageing population.