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Knee cartilage repair: new cell therapy shows promise in small study
NCT ID NCT02539069
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This completed trial tested Chondron, a treatment made from a patient's own cartilage cells, for knee cartilage defects caused by osteoarthritis or injury. Ten participants received the cells during arthroscopic surgery. The study measured pain and knee function over 96 weeks to see if the treatment is safe and effective.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Chondron (autologous cultured chondrocytes)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could provide a way to repair knee cartilage and reduce pain in people with cartilage defects.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, completed post-marketing study with only 10 participants. Results may not apply to everyone, and long-term benefits or risks are uncertain.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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10 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Oct 2012
- Finished
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Jan 2016
- Lead sponsor
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A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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15 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Patients with cartilage defects in their knee (Including Knee OA and Knee TA) \* For a single lesion, less than 15 cm2 cartilage defects; and for multiple lesions, less than 20 cm2 2. Patients with misalignment of their tibia and femur, unstable ligament in their knee, or bony defects in the lesions of their knee, and/or who had been treated for alignment 3. Patients which surrounding cartilage are normal 4. Patients who were 15 years old or older 5. Patients or their representative (for adults), or patients and their parent/guardian (for minors), who agreed to participate in the study and signed the informed consent form Exclusion Criteria: 1. Patients hypersensitive to bovine protein 2. Patients hypersensitive to gentamicin antibiotics 3. Patients with inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout arthritis 4. Patients with arthritis related to autoimmune disease 5. Pregnant, breast-feeding patients or those who have a possibility of pregnancy 6. Patients with accompanying diseases other than articular cartilage defects, including tumors (Exception: if the possibility of Chondron treatment is confirmed with doctor's clinical decision). 7. Patients who have a history of receiving radiotherapy, chemotherapy in the last 2 years (Exception: if the possibility of Chondron treatment is confirmed with doctor's clinical decision). 8. Patients with diabetes (however, patients whose blood sugar test results are normal and do not have any complication of diabetes, when a written opinion that CHONDRON administration is possible is appended by a doctor are excluded) 9. Patients with an infection that required hospitalization for antibiotics or the administration of antiseptic agents 10. Patients under adrenocorticoid therapy (Exception: if the possibility of Chondron treatment is confirmed with doctor's clinical decision). 11. Patients with psychiatric disorder and those who are considered to be inappropriate for this trial by the judgment of the clinical trial manager 12. Patients with cartilage defects in both knees (If the necessity of other surgery on the opposite side of knee joint using Chondron is confirmed with doctor's clinical decision). 13. Patients with liver, heart, or kidney disease (Those who show normal or insignificant test results may be enrolled in this study and receive the Chondron based on the investigator's judgment. Hypertension patients are allowed.) 14. Patients who had been infected with a virus (Those who show normal or insignificant test results may be enrolled in this study and receive the Chondron based on the investigator's judgment.) 15. Patients who had participated in another clinical trial (limited to those who participated in other studies on fracture within the last six months.)
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Yonsei University Severance Hospital
Seoul, Seoul, South Korea
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