Japan Tissue Engineering Co., Ltd. announced it is seeking an expansion of indication for the regenerative medical product "Autologous Cultured Cartilage JACC (hereinafter JACC), which is used to treat traumatic cartilage defects or osteochondritis dissecans of the knee. The company announced that it has submitted a request of approval to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for partial changes to JACC for the purpose of treating knee osteoarthritis. JACC is a regenerative medical product for which the company obtained marketing approval in 2012 for the treatment of traumatic cartilage defects or osteochondritis dissecans of the knee.

It is Japan's first regenerative medical product ever approved in the field of orthopedics and has been covered by health insurance since 2013. The company conducted a clinical trial, beginning in July 2018, with the aim of achieving an expansion of indication for JACC to include knee osteoarthritis. In February 2024, it notified the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Device Agency of the completion of the trial.

Results of this trial show a statistically significant improvement in clinical symptoms among patients with autologous cultured cartilage transplantation compared to those administered sodium hyaluronate. In addition, the trial has confirmed that transplantation of autologous cultured cartilage repairs cartilage defects caused by knee osteoarthritis with hyaline cartilage-like tissue.