Salt Lake City, UT — October 23, 2025 — DiscGenics, Inc., a privately held, late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on developing regenerative cell-based therapies that alleviate pain and restore function in patients with degenerative diseases of the spine, today announced the publication of pioneering research demonstrating the first successful creation of human-sized, living, tissue-engineered intervertebral disc (IVD) replacements. These constructs were derived from DiscGenics’s proprietary Discogenic Cells, representing a major advance toward biologically functional, motion-preserving disc replacement therapies.
The study, published in Tissue Engineering: Part A and led by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, and DiscGenics, provides the strongest evidence to date that Discogenic Cells can be scaled to fabricate biologically functional, whole-disc replacements — a milestone never before achieved.
VA Collaboration Driving Innovation
This breakthrough stems from a basic science Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between DiscGenics and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assess the feasibility of combining DiscGenics’ proprietary Discogenic Cells with the VA’s whole, tissue-engineered endplate-modified disc-like angle ply structures (eDAPS).
eDAPS, devised by researchers at the VA and the University of Pennsylvania, are living, tissue-engineered, resorbable polymer vertebral disc implants designed to mimic the structure and function of native discs. They are intended to replace degenerated discs in patients with late-stage intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration.
Discogenic Cells — a manufactured, live progenitor cell population derived from donated adult human intervertebral disc tissue — serve as the therapeutic engine in DiscGenics’ mild-to-moderate lumbar degenerative disc disease product candidate, IDCT (rebonuputemcel). Through this ongoing collaboration, researchers determined that eDAPS manufactured using DiscGenics’ proprietary nucleus pulposus (NP) and annulus fibrosus (AF) Discogenic Cells are mechanically and biochemically distinct from eDAPS seeded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), offering superior functionality.
Addressing the Global Burden of Back Pain
Chronic low back pain affects more than 600 million people worldwide. Current surgical options, including spinal fusion and artificial discs, often fail to replicate the complexity of native discs, limiting long-term outcomes. The DiscGenics–VA–UPenn collaboration points toward a future where biologically active, motion-preserving disc replacement therapies could transform the standard of care.
The Breakthrough
By seeding eDAPS with DiscGenics’s NP and AF progenitor cells, researchers successfully created living, human-sized discs that not only withstood mechanical testing but also produced region-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) consistent with natural disc function.
“This groundbreaking work reinforces the transformative potential of our discogenic progenitor cell technology to restore spinal function and improve quality of life for millions suffering from back pain,” said Flagg Flanagan, Chairman & CEO of DiscGenics. “It represents a pivotal step toward realizing our vision of biologically based motion-preserving therapies that redefine the standard of care in spine medicine.”
About the Study
The publication, “A Human Progenitor Cell-Based Tissue Engineered Intervertebral Disc” (Frehner et al., 2025), highlights the superior performance of DiscGenics’s Discogenic Cells compared to MSC-based constructs, producing enhanced biochemical, mechanical, and stability outcomes.
The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, a BRAVE Award from the VA Technology Transfer Program, and the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders.
About DiscGenics
DiscGenics is a privately held, late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company developing allogeneic, cell-based regenerative therapies for musculoskeletal degeneration. Its lead product candidate, IDCT (rebonuputemcel), is a single-injection biologic therapy designed to halt the progression of lumbar disc degeneration and regenerate the disc from the inside out.
DiscGenics has developed a proprietary, commercial-scale, in-house allogeneic cell manufacturing process and built and qualified a cGMP facility at its Salt Lake City, Utah headquarters.