There is a great need for a treatment that can stop or cure osteoarthritis. Many humans and animals suffer from this disease, while there is no disease modifying drug available. The results presented in the publication in Cartilage support a disease modifying effect of EQSTEM by showing significantly less cartilage damage in treated horses compared to untreated horses. In addition, EQSTEM significantly reduced lameness in treated horses which indicates less pain and improved function of the treated joint and no side effects of the treatment were observed. The results also demonstrated that specific biological factors were increased in the joint after injection of EQSTEM which provide further understanding of the mechanisms of action of EQSTEM. The study was conducted in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen and EQSTEM is now being further developed and commercialised in a partnership between Xintela and EQGen Biomedical Inc.

" We are very honoured that our publication was judged the best basic science paper published in Cartilage in 2025. Cartilage is a top-tier journal that publishes many high-quality papers. Our publication was awarded for providing strong translational evidence that integrin α10ß1-selected mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have disease-modifying potential in osteoarthritis. The jury found the paper important as it showed that integrin α10ß1-selected MSCs can modulate the joint environment, reduce pain, and slow cartilage degeneration, supporting their role as potential disease modifying osteoarthritis drug. Since the publication of these equine results, we have completed a Phase I/IIa study in humans with knee osteoarthritis, in which our human stem cell product XSTEM was used. That study showed disease modifying effects in human osteoarthritis as well, further validating the strong therapeutic effect of our stem cells”, says Xintela’s CSO Lucienne Vonk.

The publication:
Integrin α10β1-Selected Mesenchymal Stem Cells Reduce Pain and Cartilage Degradation and Increase Immunomodulation in an Equine Osteoarthritis Model. Camilla Andersen, Stine Jacobsen, Kristina Uvebrant, John F. Griffin, IV, Lucienne Angela Vonk, Marie Walters, Lise Charlotte Berg, Evy Lundgren-Åkerlund, and Casper Lindegaard. Cartilage. 2025. DOI: 10.1177/19476035231209402.
Note: The publication has been available as advance online publication since December 2023.

Link to the publication: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/19476035231209402
 
About Xintela
Xintela (XINT) is a publicly-traded clinical-stage biopharma company developing cutting edge medical products in stem cell therapy and targeted cancer therapy. Xintela’s proprietary technology uses the stem cell marker integrin α10β1 to select and quality-assure stem cells in the product XSTEM®, which has shown safety and positive efficacy in a clinical study on knee osteoarthritis and has completed a clinical study on difficult-to-heal leg ulcers. Xintela’s in-house GMP-facility manufactures XSTEM and provides process development and manufacturing of other cell therapies. Xintela’s wholly owned subsidiary Targinta AB develops First-in-Class therapeutic antibodies targeting integrin α10β1. TARG9, an Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC), and TARG10, a function blocking antibody, are in preclinical development for the treatment of aggressive, difficult-to-treat cancers including glioblastoma, triple-negative breast cancer and sarcoma. Xintela conducts its business at Medicon Village in Lund, Sweden, and is listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Stockholm. Xintela's Certified Adviser is Tapper Partners AB.