Vericel Corp. (VCEL)

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Vericel Announces First MACI Implant in the United States for the Treatment of Symptomatic Cartilage Defects of the Knee

Today : Wednesday 1 February 2017
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Vericel Corporation (NASDAQ:VCEL), a leading developer of expanded autologous cell therapies for the treatment of patients with serious diseases and conditions, today announced the first implant of MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) in the United States for the repair of symptomatic single or multiple full-thickness cartilage defects of the knee with or without bone involvement in adults.

“While surgeons have long understood that autologous chondrocyte implantation can repair cartilage tissue, the previous surgical procedure was more invasive, technically demanding, time consuming and could result in an uneven distribution of cells,” said Dr. David Recker, chief medical officer of Vericel. "With the introduction of MACI, surgeons now have an FDA-approved product in which the patient’s own cells can be reproducibly delivered using less invasive techniques. The MACI implant not only ensures more uniform distribution of the cells in the cartilage defect, but also greatly simplifies the implantation procedure.”

“Treating the first patient with MACI this soon following FDA approval is incredibly rewarding for everyone at Vericel,” said Nick Colangelo, president and CEO of Vericel. "We believe that the simplified MACI surgical technique, together with the MACI Phase 3 clinical data demonstrating statistically significantly greater improvement in pain and function scores compared to microfracture, will drive significant growth for our cartilage repair franchise. We are now focused on realizing this growth potential by providing training to expand the number of implanting surgeons and working with payers to ensure reimbursement for MACI."