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A group of researchers at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) and Shinpoong Pharmaceutical, in South Korea, has developed a treatment for osteoarthritis that reduces symptoms and even treats them for more than a year with one single injection, acquiring the approval for a Phase 3 clinical trial.
The team has developed a hyaluronic acid hydrogel, an osteoarthritis treatment in which the rate of degradation is controlled in the body. According to the results of animal experiments and Phase 1 clinical trials, this treatment was shown to significantly improve osteoarthritis symptoms by remaining in the joint without degradation for more than a year.
The technology to control the degradation rate of hyaluronic acid hydrogel developed in this study has been granted patents in Korea, the United States, Canada, and Japan.
“Using the technology to control the degradation rate of hyaluronic acid hydrogel, we plan to successfully finish the Phase 3 clinical trial and commercially launch it as an innovative osteoarthritis treatment”, said the researchers.