BioX – Animacel: Stem Cell Therapy Already Helped More Than 1500 Dogs

At the April BioX journal club, which took place on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, Luka Mohorič, CEO of Animacel, shared their path to success and the touching stories of their four-legged patients.

The company was founded in 2011 as a spin-off company of the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Ljubljana. They initially thought about treating heart failure in dogs with stem cells, but then found a niche market in therapy for joint disorders. Thus, they developed a revolutionary stem cell therapy technology for dogs and horses with diseases of the joints, tendons and ligaments. The therapy was initially performed by veterinarians in Austrian clinics, but now it can also be found in Slovenia. They currently collaborate with more than 80 partner veterinary clinics in 5 EU countries. They have already managed to help more than 1,500 dogs and applied stem cells to more than 2,000 joints, of which the largest percentage share is elbow joints. The next challenge that awaits them are clinical trials for an “off-the-shelf” version of the regulated drug, which would make the therapy significantly cheaper and faster.

After the presentation, a long discussion followed, in which the ASEF fellows learned a little more about the technology used and the challenges in introducing new drugs in veterinary medicine.