Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith Appointed to Board of Directors, eQcell Inc.
Guelph, ON, Canada April 19, 2021 – eQcell Inc. Canada’s premier clinical-stage regenerative medicine company addressing conditions and diseases affecting sporting and domestic animals globally, announces the appointment to its Board of Directors of Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith.
“We are delighted that Dr. McIlwraith has joined our Board” said Dr. Thomas Koch, Founder and CEO of eQcell.” He is a University Distinguished Professor and Founding Director of Colorado State University’s Orthopaedic Research Center whose findings regarding the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of equine joint injury and disease have been translated into orthopaedic advancements for humans – the process known as “translational medicine.”
“Beyond his numerous awards and achievements,” said Dr. Thomas Koch, “his leadership in translational medicine, more recently becoming known as zoobiquity, is of particular importance to eQcell as the company pursues its clinical pathway in osteoarthritis/cartilage repair in horses toward the prospect for applications to humans.
” There is currently no regenerative treatment for either species.
Dr. McIlwraith is noted for significant achievements in the fields of osteoarthritis and cartilage injury, regenerative therapies, and contributions on the understanding of joint pathology and repair, the development and validation of equine models of joint diseases, surgical technologies, intra-articular therapies, cartilage resurfacing, tissue engineering, and gene therapies for osteoarthritis, many of which have been or are translatable to human joint disease. He is the recipient of the Orthopaedic Research Society’s Marshall R. Urist Award for Excellence in Tissue Regeneration Research.
In recognition for Dr. McIlwraith’s eminence and leadership, the $65.5 million Translational Medicine Institute at CSU, funded principally by John and Leslie Malone and Princess Abigail K. Kawananakoa of Hawaii, a direct descendant of the Hawaiian royal family, was named in his honor by the families.
“I agreed to serve on the Board of eQcell because, in my opinion, Dr. Koch and his team have a novel plan based on good science to develop a licensable and commercially-available allogeneic MSC product for veterinary use.” said Dr. McIlwraith, “I was also compelled by eQcell’s translational approach using animal data to inform similar human cell therapies which I believe hold tremendous promise to improve human health in addition to equine welfare, and is the same model that we have at CSU.” “I have favored the zoobiquity concept for years, so it is very exciting to be part of a company pursuing this strategy.”
About eQcell Inc.
eQcell was founded by Dr. Thomas Koch, Associate Professor at University of Guelph, Canada, ranked fifth in the world in veterinary medicine. The company’s work in stem cells has been supported by grants and expenditures approximating $6 million over a 15-year period, and the company is considered Canada’s premier clinical-stage regenerative medicine company addressing conditions and diseases affecting sporting and domestic animals globally for which current treatments are ineffective, not fully effective, or palliative. eQcell has developed allogeneic equine cord blood stem cells, as well as canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells, to provide novel therapeutic options. Dr. Koch is currently assessing laboratory-generated cartilage from neonatal allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) in cartilage defects in horses under a grant from the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) that recognizes the prospect for the equine model’s application to humans. The trial is considered to have high translational potential in that success of the project would lead to currently-unavailable remediation for cartilage defects in equines and humans.
For further information:
Dr. Thomas Koch (tkoch@eqcell.com)
eQcell Inc.
University of Guelph
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1
Canada