successful arthroscopic treatment of hip cartilage defects with autologous 3-dimensional cultured chondrocytes - co.don chondrosphere® (ACT 3D)

October 9h , 2006 - Dr. Andrea Fontana, an internationally renowned orthopedic surgeon and hip joint specialist at the hospital St. Rita in Milan, together with the chief physician Dr. Antonio Giampaolo has successfully arthroscopically treated, for the first time worldwide, hip cartilage defects by using autologous 3-dimensional cultured chondrocytes - co.don chondrosphere®.

After the worldwide first arthroscopic treatment of the knee cartilage defect by using autologous three-dimensional chondrocytes (co.don chondrosphere®) by Dr. Dario Quattrocchi on August 26, 2005 (see the press release from August 25, 2005), and the use of this therapy option on June 27, 2006 at the ankle joint (see the press release from June 27, 2006), the spectrum of co.don® AG’s products has further increased: there is now the possibility to arthroscopically treat hardly accessible cartilage defects at the largest human joint, the hip.

The arthroscopical intervention significantly reduces hospitalization and rehabilitation time. This considerably decreases costs of the health system and allows faster recovery of the patient.

Through this, co.don® AG ensures a sustainable competitive product advantage with its new product – co.don chondrosphere®.
In Germany, it is marketed under the brand “ARTROcell 3D” by ORMED GmbH & Co KG.
In Italy, co.don chondrosphere® is marketed by XMEDICA S.R.L., Milan, Italy.

co.don® AG is the European leader in the development and application of strictly autologous human Tissue engineering therapeutics for the regenerative treatment of lost or damaged tissues, such as articular cartilage, intervertebral disc and bone.

According to the WHO, about 3 million hip surgery treatments are performed annually worldwide, of which approx. 600,000 are carried out in the U.S.A. and 140,000 in Germany.


Board management of co.don® AG


co.don® AG is one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in the area of Regenerative Medicine/Tissue Engineering. Since 1997, co.don® AG has developed, manufactured and distributed human Tissue engineering therapeutics for the regeneration of articular cartilage, bone and intervertebral discs. The company is headquartered in Teltow, near Berlin, Germany. For more information, please visit www.codon.de

Contact Information

Matthias Meißner

co.don® AG

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