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The World Health Organization estimates that more than 500 million people worldwide suffer from osteoarthritis, an insidious joint disease that is currently a life sentence of pain and debilitated quality of life due to Big Pharmaʼs inability to develop an effective therapy.
For biotech company Cytonics, this is simply not acceptable. The company is positioning themselves to beat Big Pharma at their own game by developing a first of its kind disease-modifying therapy for osteoarthritis that actually targets the root molecular cause of the disease instead of merely masking symptoms.
Funded exclusively by "everyday" investors, Cytonics is on a mission to do the impossible: Beat Big Pharma at their own game without a dime of Venture Capital or Wall Street funding.
Cytonics is a grassroots phenomenon poised to topple institutions.
For the People, By the People.
Disrupting a $390 Billion Global Market
The symptoms of osteoarthritis have been found in some ancient texts, and the term itself dates back to the 1890s. Yet, there is no effective therapy that brings effective, lasting relief to over 500M suffering people. Big Pharma’s failure to beat this disease is simply unacceptable.
Despite being well known for more than a century, pharmaceutical companies have been more interested in researching ways to make money off the disease rather than curing it. In fact, the global osteoarthritis market is valued at nearly $390 billion.
Cytonics founder, Dr. Gaetano Scuderi, has been working to counter Big Pharma’s myopic thinking and narrow approach to drug development. The company’s work began in 2006 when they unveiled their FACT™ diagnostic test for osteoarthritis, which allows for earlier detection and quantification of cartilage damage, enabled by Dr. Scuderi’s exceptional knowledge of the underlying disease processes.
This diagnostic test eventually led Scuderi to a groundbreaking discovery: A natural blood protein called Alpha-2-Macroglobulin (A2M) has the ability to inhibit the enzymes responsible for causing the cartilage breakdown and joint pain found in osteoarthritis patients.
Using this discovery, Cytonics created the Autologous Protease Inhibitor Concentrate therapy (APIC™), which draws and centrifuges a patient’s blood to filter out pro-inflammatory proteins while concentrating the A2M proteins. The purified A2M is then injected into a patient’s arthritic joints.
More than 10,000 patients have had their lives improved through this treatment, but it’s not without its drawbacks. APIC therapy requires specialized equipment and technical training, reducing the possibility of global accessibility.
In 2015, Cytonics set out to create a “super A2M,” or a genetically engineered variant of the naturally occurring A2M protein, now known as CYT-108. This medical breakthrough is not only more effective at inhibiting the enzymes responsible for osteoarthritis patients than its natural counterpart, but it could also lead to structural and physiological improvements in the patient's joints and bones… a true “disease modifying” therapy that is the Holy Grail of Regenerative Medicine.
The CYT-108 treatment has passed preclinical safety experiments and is currently being tested in its Phase 1 human clinical trial. If approved by the Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first treatment that targets the root cause of osteoarthritis and works to reverse the damage caused by the disease.
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Cytonics holds more than 25 international patents protecting its treatment technologies, including APIC therapy and CYT-108, and has a management team with more than 100 years of experience in the biotech sector and navigating the FDA’s notoriously difficult regulatory process.
And they are doing it their own way.
To date, Cytonics has raised over $15M directly from investors like you without any involvement from Big Pharma. They have not taken a dime from Venture Capitalists or Wall Street funds.
For the People, By the People.
Instead, Cytonics relies exclusively on investments from “everyday” people, many of whom are patients and doctors that believe in their core A2M technology. Are you ready to join them on their audacious mission to usher in the next generation of longevity therapies?
Disclaimer: This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment.
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About Anthony O'Reilly
Anthony O’Reilly is an updates editor for Benzinga. He’s won numerous journalism awards for his coverage of the New York City economy and Long Island school district budgets.
