Antwerp chemical company osteoarthritis after injury to menisc… (Antwerp)
Many people who have a meniscus injury later develop osteoarthritis. The Antwerp chemical company Allegro has come up with a solution to prevent this. The technology could be on the market in five years.
Christof Willocx
Allegro was founded by Jorg Schelfhout (37), a doctor in chemistry who lives in Blankenberge. He hangs out every day at the old Petroleum South site in Antwerp. His company Allegro is located there in the BlueChem building. This is an incubator that brings together various start-up and innovative chemical companies.
Van Schelfhout and his company Allegro are working on a solution for people who suffer a meniscus injury, for example through sports. It is estimated that 1.7 million people worldwide each year. A meniscus is a slice of cartilage in the shape of a crescent that keeps our shape. When someone tears their meniscus, doctors often can’t provide the perfect treatment for it.
“Today that meniscus is sewn from removed,” says Jorg Schelfhout. “But sewing doesn’t work. And if part of the meniscus is removed, the cartilage can wear away and osteoarthritis can develop later in life. The knee then becomes stiff and hurts. We have developed a technique to prevent people who have a meniscus injury from developing osteoarthritis later on.”
Gel with moisture from the knee
Allegro does this by means of a hydrogel. “That is a gel that can be made,” says Jorg Schelfhout. “If there is a small defect in the meniscus, we can simply inject that hydrogel. If there is a major defect, we design a 3D model of that defect. The project part of the meniscus is placed on the patient and we print an exact copy of that project part with hydrogel, which is then inserted into the patient’s surgery through a viewer.”
With such a major defect, the patient will have to walk around with a support band for a while. “But eventually the cells will grow back at the site of the injury,” says Jorg Schelfhout. “The cartilage will recover after a few months. As a result, the patient no longer develops osteoarthritis at the site of that meniscus.”
So the method has been fully developed, but when will it also be applied to patients? “Not immediately,” says the Blankenberger. “We are now moving to the clinical testing phase. I expect this method to be launched on the market in about five years.”
West Flemish in Antwerp
It is no coincidence that this simple innovation originated in Antwerp. “As a person from West Flanders, it is not easy to drive to Antwerp every day, but here in BlueChem we have everything needed to develop our innovation,” says Jorg Schelfhout. “In Ghent it has become almost impossible to find a suitable laboratory. In BlueChem we have arranged a good lab, the required gas connections and all practical matters for us. It is therefore logical that we develop our company from Antwerp.”