An osteochondral defect is a defect in the gristle or hyaline cartilage at the end of the bones, where the joint surface and some of the underlying bone has been damaged. Defects of this sort are usually the result of injuries caused by sports or automobile accidents. The defect tends to be a crater with deep sides and the joint cartilage cannot fill over the gap. Insufficient management of chondral defects will lead to further destructive joint disease. The current common treatment for chondral defects is a reduction of pain and discomfort by lavage or shaving of the affected regions. Other approaches include the stimulation of the intrinsic healing capacity by drilling procedures (Pridie drilling) and reconstructive methods comprising osteochondral transplantation using autografts (mosaicplasty procedures) and allografts. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) is also emerging as a new technology using artificially expanded autograft material. However, despite the extremely high need for cartilage regeneration, no effective treatment method for regeneration in vivo is available at the current time.

Scil Technology´s ST03 is a biodegradable implant for the treatment of osteochondral defects, such as knee injuries. ST03 consists of a combination of the novel proprietary cartilage growth factor rhCD-RAP and a carrier matrix allowing for controlled release of the growth factor to the defect site.

The growth factor rhCD-RAP has successfully completed proof-of-concept studies in vivo. It has been shown that the growth factor greatly accelerated cartilage repair in injured articular cartilage in a preclinical model.