Opportunity
Osteoarthritis is by far the most common type of arthritis, and the percentage of people who have it grows higher with age. An estimated 12.1% of the U.S. population (nearly 21 million Americans) age 25 and older have osteoarthritis. As the population ages, the number of people with osteoarthritis will only grow. By 2030, 20% of Americans — about 72 million people — will be over 65 years of age and at high risk for the disease.

Fibrosis is a common feature of many chronic progressive diseases such as hepatitis C, Diabetic kidney disease, several forms of lung diseases, and congestive heart failure. The excess synthesis and accumulation of collagen in the heart, liver, lung or kidney ultimately lead to organ failure. While there are currently no effective antifibrotic therapies available recent advances in our understanding of the common underlying features of fibrosis has lead to several promising therapeutic approaches entering clinical trials. Currently several major biotech (Genzyme, Fibrogen, Biogen-idec, Intermune) are pursuing treatments for fibrosis targeting collagen synthesis.

Osteoarthritis and collagen synthesis
Osteoarthritis is caused by the breakdown and loss of the cartilage of the joints. Cartilage "cushions" the bones of the joints. Aging and obesity are major risk factors. Inflammation increases the symptoms.

Loss of articular cartilage function and mass is the hallmark of OA. Promoting the regeneratioin of collagen and glucosaminoglycans in articular cartilage may slow or reverse this debilitating disease.

Fibrosis
Increased collagen synthesis is the hallmark of fibrosis, and inhibiting tissue specific collagen synthesis is a major therapeutic target for the treatment of all fibrotic diseases.

Drug screening and development with KineMed
The KineMed technology accurately measures glucosaminoglycan and collagen synthesis in the joint space, lung, kidney, and liver tissues, an excellent marker for these disease pathway.

KineMed technology uses stable isotope labeling and mass spectrometric analysis to measure cell proliferation and matrix component turnover, simultaneously, in both cartilage explants and animal models. No other method measures kinetic changes in these parameters.

The test provides unique measures of disease activity and is applicable to both monitoring disease progression and measuring the efficacy of treatments. Most importantly, these measures detect changes earlier than other methods.