Parcell Spine

Parcell Spine is dedicated to the development of cell-based therapies for the treatment of spinal disorders, with a focus on treating conditions that affect the aging or at risk spine. For patients with severe and debilitating pain due to degenerative disc disease, the current treatment involves fusion of adjacent vertebra to eliminate chronic pain. For years the standard of care for achieving bone fusion has been the harvesting of a patient’s own hip bone and marrow (called “autograft”) to be implanted at the site in need of fusion. The harvesting process can be associated with serious complications including infection, nerve damage and recurring pain. In posterior lumbar fusion there is a major unmet need for safe and effective alternatives to autograft.

PureGen® Osteoprogenitor Cell Allograft was developed by Parcell and Alphatec Spine to fill the unmet need for a cellular product derived from live, healthy donors to enhance fusion. The product has been used in thousands of fusion procedures by surgeons nationwide and Parcell is working with the FDA to commence a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the product in a randomized multi-phase study.

Parcell Spine is developing additional products targeting degenerative disc disease to regenerate disc anatomy, improve function and ultimately eliminate the need for a surgical procedure.

Market Opportunity

Approximately 30 million Americans suffer from back pain and turn to anti-inflammatory medications and other treatments to mitigate the symptoms. Spinal surgery is advocated in only severe cases of degenerative disc disease and approximately 550,000 patients undergo fusion surgery each year. Many go untreated until the condition worsens to a level requiring surgery. The opportunity for products to regenerate discs and in more severe cases, enhance fusion is well in excess of the number of surgeries presently performed each year in the United States.