Innovation Made in Italy for the treatment of osteoarthritis

Last November 25, IBSA Farmaceutici presented to the press a preview of its latest innovation in the osteoarticular field: a new medical device combining hyaluronic acid and unsulphated sodium chondroitin, both ultrapure and produced with the bio-fermentative method.

The event – which was moderated by scientific journalist Michela Vuga – saw the participation of Dr. Biagio Zampogna, specialist in Orthopedics and Traumatology at the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital of Rome; Dr. Chiara Schiraldi, Full Professor of Biochemistry at the Department of Experimental Medicine of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”; and Andrea Maria Giori, Head of R&D at IBSA Farmaceutici. The event ended with the contribution of Luca Crippa, CEO & Managing Director of IBSA Farmaceutici.

The meeting was an opportunity for an overview of osteoarthritis, one of the most common conditions and, today, one of the main causes of disabling pain in the population, with a constantly growing incidence trend. Starting from epidemiological data and reviewing the main symptoms and possible causes, the experts engaged investigated the different levels of severity of the disease, and the relevant therapeutic steps. Indeed, the management of osteoarthritis is not simple, since it requires a gradual, sometimes integrated, clinical-therapeutic approach based on the severity of the disease, ranging from pharmacological, physiotherapeutic and infiltrative treatments up to, in the most severe cases, surgical procedures. Viscosupplementation – a conservative treatment recognized by several international guidelines – was created with the aim of restoring the correct rheological status of the synovial fluid through intra-articular infiltration of hyaluronic acid. IBSA Farmaceutici, in synergy with Italian research centres, developed a new formulation featuring a high concentration of hyaluronic acid and the use – for the first time ever in an injectable device – of unsulphated sodium chondroitin. Both ingredients are highly purified and produced through bio-fermentation.

“We developed a new medical device capable of optimally mimicking the characteristics and behaviour of a healthy synovial fluid”, explained Andrea Giori. “The new formulation, with a high concentration of sodium hyaluronate, was created thanks to the application of IBSA’s NAHYCO Technology, which allows to combine, through a patented thermal process, the two ingredients (hyaluronic acid and unsulphated sodium chondroitin), both highly purified and produced through bio-fermentation, and therefore free of components of animal origin. This allowed us to obtain a device with a high performance and safety profile, characterized by an optimal duration, for the benefit of the patient”.

IBSA is one of the world leaders in the production of hyaluronic acid, and this new formulation is the demonstration that the Company continues to invest in order to obtain innovative and increasingly cutting-edge therapeutic solutions capable of responding to the specific needs of the individual patient.

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