Regenerative medicine focuses on activating the body’s intrinsic repair systems to restore tissue function lost through injury, illness, or aging. This may involve biologic approaches such as cell-based therapies, tissue engineering, or by enhancing endogenous healing processes. Cell therapies may use autologous cells (from the patient) or allogeneic cells (from donors), each offering distinct clinical and regulatory advantages.
Autologous vs. Allogeneic Therapies
- Autologous therapies use a patient’s own cells, such as bone marrow or adipose-derived MSCs. Minimizes the risk of immune rejection. Reduces regulatory complexity but limits total dose. Potency of cells are dependent on patient age and health.
- Allogeneic therapies rely on donor cells. Enables dose optimization as standardized “off-the-shelf” products. Donor screening and selection important to optimize cell potency.
Major Application Areas
- Orthopedic: Stem cell therapy is used in osteoarthritis and cartilage repair, typically through intra-articular injections.1
- Autoimmune: Stem cell therapy has been investigated in multiple clinical trials for a number of autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, among others.2
- Neurological: Early clinical trials explore stem cells for stroke, spinal cord injury, and Alzheimer’s disease.3
- Cardiovascular: Late stage trials are investigating heart failure, myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death.4
Therapeutic Mechanisms
Mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to primarily function via cell-to-cell interactions and paracrine signaling—secretion of cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular vesicles that reduce inflammation, modulate immune activity, and promote tissue repair.5