Vet Biotechnology launches horse umbilical cord stem cell storage service

Animal health care company Vet Biotechnology reports that they have launched cutting edge technology in Australia with the collection of equine umbilical cord stem cells from the afterbirth of newborn thoroughbred foals.

The process to be named the “Cord Service” in Australia, and currently available in the United Kingdom and Europe under the name “Neo-EQ”, is being validated in conjunction with a group of select Australian thoroughbred studs.

One of Australia’s foremost thoroughbred operations, Lindsay Park Stud, run by the Hayes family in South Australia’s Barossa Valley, is the first to join the Vet Biotechnology validation.

Large numbers of contamination-free adult stem cells have already been obtained from the first two test umbilical cord samples obtained after foaling at Lindsay Park.

Other participants in the validation are Arrowfield Stud and Widden Stud in New South Wales, Victoria’s Swettenham Stud (formerly Collingrove Stud) and Eureka Thoroughbreds in Queensland.

Vet Biotechnology was granted the exclusive Australasian licence for the service in 2004 by the UK-based VetCell BioScience Ltd., which developed the technology in association with the Royal Veterinary College of London. The Newcastle Stock Exchange-listed company holds the only Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) registration for stem cell therapies in Australia.

Last year the College’s Professor Roger Smith trained more than 90 equine veterinarians from Australia and New Zealand.

Vet Biotechnology general manager David Bridgland said that following validation, this would be the second of two stem cell processes offered by the company following its bone marrow launch last year.

“The Australian equine industry is now able to access the most advanced technology in the world for the treatment of potentially career-ending tendon and ligament injuries,” Mr Bridgland said.

“Adult stem cells are the body’s natural repair mechanism for damaged or diseased tissues and have the ability to form various other tissues, such as bone, muscle and cartilage. 

“However, these cells occur naturally in very low numbers. The Vet Biotechnology stem cell services provide purified, expanded and concentrated therapeutic doses.”

Lindsay Park head veterinarian Dr Campbell Baker, who is among those trained in the procedure, has heralded the new technology.

“The collection and storage of the adult stem cells from the umbilical cord in readiness for stem cell therapy is marvellous technology that will help reduce equine wastage,” Dr Baker said.

The technology involves the collection, growth and cryopreservation of adult stem cells isolated from the umbilical cord. The stem cells will be stored at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science (IMVS) in Adelaide and can be used later to repair injured tendons and ligaments in the horse from which they were extracted. Stored cells can also be used for future therapies as they emerge.

“Current therapies for repair of tendon and ligament injuries have low success rates between 20 to 50 per cent and many animals that do recover have a high risk of re-injury when they return to training and racing as the tendon is repaired with scar tissue,” Dr Baker said.

“Stem cells have the unique ability to generate a range of specialised cell types and hold the promise of being able to regenerate tendon and ligament cells to return a fully functional tendon or ligament.”

Dr Baker said the return of the David Hayes trained Pinions at Cheltenham in July with a last to first win after having received bone marrow stem cell treatment is an outstanding result for the therapy.

The Bart Cummings’ Cups hope Accumulate, who returned to racing at Rosehill last Saturday week, is among those to have their bone marrow stem cells purified, expanded and implanted to aid their recovery. Accumulate was 10 lengths from the leader on the home turn and ran home strongly along the rails to finish eighth, but beaten by only 3.8 lengths.

This process involves the collection of a bone marrow sample from the sternum by a veterinarian approved by Vet Biotechnology after which mesenchymal stem cells are isolated and then grown in a laboratory for later treatment of the horse from which they were extracted.

An alternate source is the umbilical cord with stem cells collected from the afterbirth painlessly following the normal foaling process. Following isolation and expansion, these cells can then be stored for the life of the horse and retrieved at high concentration to treat future injury or illness.

“It is an exciting prospect that stem cell therapy offers horses with injury the chance of a successful recovery and a return to racing,” Dr Baker said.

Vet Biotechnology chairman Peter Le Messurier is also excited about the development of stem cell technology.

“Every day the stem cell technology is attracting new interest as treated horses successfully return to the racetrack,” Mr Le Messurier said.

“Stem cell therapies promise to enhance the racing experience both for the investor and the racing enthusiast who follows these wonderful racehorses with interest and excitement.”

Both the Cord Service and Bone Marrow Service are processes conducted at the Therapeutic Products Facility, Department of Haematology at the IMVS in Adelaide. The IMVS was granted a Good Manufacturing (GMP) licence by the APVMA.

Vet Biotechnology is listed on the Newcastle Stock Exchange (NSX codes VBL, VBLO).