Advantages
Pioneers in the world in the use of umbilical cord as an active substance
Advantages over other stem cell products
HorStem is the only ready-to-use (fresh) equine umbilical cord pluripotent mesenchymal stem cell based medicine on the world market.
There are various advanced therapy products on the European market. When choosing an advanced therapy product, various factors must be taken into account:
Regulatory status
Only a product authorised by the European Union as a veterinary medicine can guarantee quality, safety and efficacy. From the point of view of quality, only authorised drugs guarantee production under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) conditions, the performance of quality controls according to European regulations and pharmacopoeia, stability studies, control of starting materials, etc.
In respect to safety and efficacy, only authorised drugs have passed an extensive evaluation process, have carried out clinical trials under international regulations and have a pharmacovigilance system that guarantees the safety and efficacy of the products throughout the European territory. Currently, the use of unauthorised cell products as medicine poses a high risk to the health and safety of animals, as well as a risk to the prescribing veterinarian.
Origin and cell type
It is scientifically recognised that umbilical cord stem cells are ideal for regenerative medicine treatments thanks to their extraordinary pluripotential, immunomodulatory and cell proliferation status (*). Likewise, the stage of differentiation is important when choosing a cellular product.
Pluripotent (undifferentiated) mesenchymal stem cells offer a wide range of possibilities as they have a great capacity for tissue adaptation and can be applied in pathologies of multidisciplinary origin.
Finally, thanks to the richness in umbilical cord cells and their large size, the cells used in HorStem have hardly been expanded in vitro, which gives a higher quality and effectiveness to the product at a lower production cost, this allows HorStem to have a more affordable price than other alternatives.
Terms of use
Today's cellular products can be sold both fresh or frozen. In frozen products it is necessary for the prescribing veterinarian to carry out a thawing process under field conditions. This process, although apparently simple, is critical with regards to the efficacy of the product, since the thawing process can cause significant cell death and therefore negatively impact the efficacy of the product (*).
On the other hand, fresh products such as HorStem, do not require handling by the veterinarian and can be stored in a normal refrigerator of the prescribing veterinarian without the need for ultra-low temperature equipment.
Advantages over conventional treatments
HorStem is a therapeutic alternative to conventional treatments without being doping, avoiding side effects in the medium / long term and with a duration of effect much longer than the classic therapeutic alternatives. avoiding side effects in the medium/long term and with a much longer duration of effect than classical therapeutic alternatives.
Conventional treatments for equine osteoarthrosis are well known and are well established in the daily clinic, however, conventional treatments have important drawbacks that can be solved with innovative treatments such as stem cell treatments.
Doping
Any drug treatment, be it NSAIDs or corticosteroids, result in positive doping results in competition horses, so its use is restricted to horses outside competition, or it will be necessary to apply waiting times.
Duration of effect
Conventional treatments are effective, however, their effectiveness is not very sustained over time. The duration of the effect of intra-articular corticosteroids is variable depending on the case and the number of administrations that the animal has received in its life, averaging about 4 months (*). For this reason, the use of conventional treatments requires the systematic administration of drugs, which increases the risk of adverse effects and increases the associated veterinary costs.
Adverse effects
Conventional pharmacological treatments have significant adverse effects in the medium/long term. Especially relevant is the effect that the continued use of corticosteroids has on the homeostasis of the articular cartilage, generating important negative effects such as the degradation of articular cartilage (*).
* L.V Schnabel et al. 2013; Kalaszcynska et al, 2015; Kern et al, 2007; Crisostomo PR, 2006; Baksh et al. 2007; Nagamura-Inoue. U 2014; Hunt C.J.2019; Harkins et al., 1993; de Grauw et al., 2015; Van Weeren & de Grauw, 2010 and Souza, 2016