THE company behind an innovative product “that is revolutionising how vets are able to treat tendon and ligament injuries” is planning a seminar in May to showcase treatment options, techniques, the science and clinical data. Lipocast Biotech UK brought Lipogems Equine and Canine to the UK market and said the treatment had “grown exponentially” in 2017 due to success accredited veterinary surgeons are seeing in equine and canine patients. Use in international veterinary schools is adding to positive testaments of the treatment’s capability, the firm said. A database of studies is being compiled for both equine and canine patients, with Tim Watson, of Waterlane Equine Vets, Gloucestershire, leading collection of the equine data. Lipogems offers, says Lipocast, a rapid and cost-effective means of harvesting mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), helping vets treat tendon and ligament injuries and manage degenerative joint diseases. Lipogems harnesses, says Lipocast Biotech, the potential of pericyte cells that surround capillaries. Following tissue injury, pericytes detach from the capillaries and gradually convert into activated MSCs and begin the process of orchestrating tissue repair. The Lipogems technique delivers MSCs from pericytes in adipose tissue that are collected by liposuction, flushed and processed using gentle mechanical disruption. These MSCs understand the nature of the injury into which they are injected and then stimulate and coordinate numerous biological processes for effective healing. For equine veterinary surgeons, the procedure can be performed stable-side in 40 minutes, with no additional culture or laboratory time is required. Lipocast Biotech UK has now announced the inaugural Lipogems Regenerative Medicine Seminar will be held on 16 May in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The seminar, which offers five CPD hours, is free of charge, and leading vets will give lectures about the future of regenerative medicine and the science behind the technology, with case-based evidence and procedure demonstrations presented. Dr Watson said: “Lipogems is an easy technique that can be performed at the patient's side and enables prompt treatment for a wide range of common orthopaedic conditions affecting horses and ponies. The results are superior to other regenerative therapies currently used.” For more details about the seminar, email lucy_wilson@lipogemsequine.com

1. 8 Veterinary Times Equine
THE company behind an innovative product“that is
revolutionising how vets are able to treat tendon and ligament
injuries”is planning a seminar in May to showcase treatment
options, techniques, the science and clinical data.
Lipocast Biotech UK brought Lipogems Equine and Canine
to the UK market and said the treatment had “grown
exponentially” in 2017 due to success accredited vets are seeing
in equine and canine patients. Use in international veterinary
schools is adding to positive testaments of the treatment’s
capability, the firm said.
A database of studies is being compiled for both equine and
canine patients, with Tim Watson, of Waterlane Equine Vets,
Gloucestershire, leading collection of the equine data.
According to Lipocast Biotech, Lipogems offers a rapid and
cost-effective means of harvesting mesenchymal stromal cells
(MSCs), helping vets treat tendon and ligament injuries and
manage degenerative joint diseases.
It added that Lipogems harnesses the potential of pericyte cells
that surround capillaries.
Following tissue injury, pericytes detach from the capillaries
and gradually convert into activated MSCs, and begin the
process of orchestrating tissue repair. The Lipogems technique
delivers MSCs from pericytes in adipose tissue that are
collected by liposuction, and flushed and processed using gentle
mechanical disruption.
These MSCs understand the nature of the injury they are
injected in, then stimulate and coordinate numerous biological
processes for effective healing. For equine vets, the procedure
can be performed stable-side in 40 minutes, with no additional
culture or laboratory time required.
Lipocast Biotech UK has announced the inaugural Lipogems
Regenerative Medicine Seminar will be held on 16 May in
Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The seminar, which offers five
CPD hours, is free of charge and leading vets will give lectures
about the future of regenerative medicine and the science
behind the technology, with case-based evidence and procedure
demonstrations presented.
Dr Watson said: “Lipogems is an easy technique that can be
performed at the patient’s side and enables prompt treatment
for a wide range of common orthopaedic conditions affecting
horses and ponies. The results are superior to other regenerative
therapies currently used.”
For more details about the seminar, email
lucy_wilson@lipogemsequine.com
Seminar to showcase
‘revolutionary’ tendon
and ligament injury
treatment option
Probing horse owners’ laminitis knowledge
AN RVC study is aiming to shed light on UK horse owners’understanding of
laminitis and how it influences their equine management practices.
Those behind the study, which
is being supported by Spillers in
collaboration with the RVC, hope the
research will help define the best ways
evidence-based science that improves
health and welfare can be conveyed to
horse owners.
A number of management-related,
modifiable risk factors have been
identified for the debilitating foot
condition, including rapid weight
gain, recent box rest and introduction
to grazing.
However, no research has yet
been conducted to investigate whether
or how such research evidence
translates into changes in horse care
– and, therefore, improvements in
horse welfare.
The study is being conducted by
Chantil Sinclair, an RVC epidemiologist,
supervised by Jackie Cardwell and
Nicola Menzies-Gow, both from the
RVC, and Carrie Roder, from Anglia
Ruskin University. It is being supported
by Spillers via Waltham, which
provides the science underpinning
the brand.
Ms Sinclair combines a background
in human health with a passion
for horses and a keen interest in
improving access to scientifically
supported information. The study will
form part of her PhD.
She said: “My key objective is to
understand the decision-making
process when caring for horses. First,
we intend to establish the level of
knowledge horse owners have about
existing scientific evidence on reducing
the risk of laminitis. We then hope
to identify the specific barriers that
either hinder awareness or prevent
implementation of best practice.”
Ms Sinclair said the aim was to look
at underlying factors that may be
hindering acceptance by owners of
research evidence, including attitude,
behaviour, and technical and cultural
factors. Once these are understood,
it is hoped better communication and
information tools can be developed to
promote to owners, so they can better
care for their horses.
Clare Barfoot, research and
development manager at Spillers,
said: “By establishing what prevents
or drives horse owners to implement
evidenced-based management
practices, we should, in time, be able
to adopt improved communication
processes. Ultimately, this should
help reduce the risk of disease, with a
particular focus on laminitis and other
disorders that can be nutrition-related.”
‘Exciting’ new vaccine
for equine strangles
due to launch in 2020
SCIENTISTS have made a breakthrough in creating
an effective vaccine in the age-old battle against
strangles, the most frequently diagnosed infectious
disease of horses worldwide.
Researchers from the AHT, Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences, Karolinska Institute and Intervacc
have developed a protein-based vaccine, which, in
trials, protected more than 80 per cent of horses from
the disease.
It is anticipated, subject to market authorisation, the
vaccine – Strangvac 4, produced by Swedish company
Intervacc – will be available to UK vets and horse owners
in 2020.
The groundbreaking research – “Strangvac: a
recombinant fusion protein vaccine that protects
against strangles, caused by Streptococcus equi” – was
published in Vaccine1.
Co-author Andrew Waller (pictured), head of
bacteriology at the AHT, said: “I think, finally, there’s
light at the end of a very long tunnel.
“This vaccine is safe. The new version can be given IM,
so it’s easy to give to the horse. It doesn’t interfere with
diagnostic tests, so horses can be moved internationally
without triggering alarm bells – and it’s effective as well.
It’s really exciting.”
Development of the vaccine has been built on the
original genome sequencing of S equi, funded by The
Horse Trust and carried out by the AHT more than a
decade ago.
The Swedish group looked through the DNA sequence
to identify combinations of surface proteins they
believed would make vaccine candidates.
In 2009, researchers published a paper using a
multiple combination of surface proteins that appeared
to work well, but costs of producing the vaccine were
prohibitively high.
Three fusion proteins
Dr Waller said: “The exciting thing about this latest paper
is turning that research-based vaccine into something
that could actually work for vets and horse owners by
fusing together a whole load of these proteins.
“So, instead of having eight proteins, they’ve got
three fusion proteins in the vaccine,
and when we vaccinate horses
with that it has shown really
good levels of protection – more
than 80 per cent of animals were
protected, which is terrific, really.
“The genome project was the
trigger for this new vaccine and The Horse Trust
deserves a lot of credit for funding that work all those
years ago, but it is the guys in Sweden who have really
taken it forward.
“We at the AHT have helped them by providing the
expertise on strangles, but they’ve done a vast amount
of work over there.
“I know some of them have even mortgaged their
houses to get the funds together to make this a reality,
so they deserve a huge amount of credit for this.”
He added: “It’s been such a long time coming, but it’s
great that, finally, we’ve got something with the guys in
Sweden that, hopefully, will make a massive difference
to horse health.”
Dr Waller also noted the technology used to develop
the strangles vaccine has potential to be adapted to
target many other diseases.
With an estimated 600 outbreaks of strangles each
year in the UK, the development of the vaccine has the
potential to have tremendous benefits to horse health
around the world.
Jan-Ingmar Flock, chief executive of Intervacc, said:
“We are delighted to have shown our Strangvac vaccine
protected more than 80 per cent of horses from this
dreadful disease. Strangles is a scourge of the equine
world and the development of Strangvac has the
potential to prevent many thousands of horses from
falling ill each year.
“Transfer of the manufacturing process and production
of commercial batches are underway towards the
registration and launch of Strangvac, and we anticipate
[it] will be available during 2020.”
Reference
1. Robinson C, Frykberg L, Flock M, Guss B, Waller AS and Flock J-I
(2018). Strangvac: a recombinant fusion protein vaccine that protects
against strangles, caused by Streptococcus equi, Vaccine [Epub ahead of
print], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.01.030
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