A synthetic material developed from Cornell University research is moving toward its first tests in people, with separate trials planned for knee osteoarthritis and dry eye. The experiments are early-stage; the material has not been shown to relieve either condition in humans or approved as a treatment.
The material mimics lubricin, a naturally occurring molecule that helps joints move with less friction. Cornell engineers David Putnam and Lawrence Bonassar have spent more than a decade designing a polymer with a section that sticks to tissue and another that holds water, creating a thin lubricating layer. Cornell described the work Wednesday.
From lab research to clinical testing
In a 2019 laboratory study, the researchers applied the polymer to lubricin-deficient cow cartilage. Under a test designed to measure friction when surfaces press directly against each other, the friction coefficient fell from about 0.39 to 0.09, a level similar to cartilage treated with natural lubricin. Neither of the polymer's two components achieved that result alone. Those findings came from tissue samples, not patients.
A 2020 follow-up study tested variations in the material's structure. Cornell said the length of the tissue-binding segment proved especially important: Too short or too long, and its friction-reducing performance declined. The team has sought a synthetic alternative partly because natural lubricin is difficult and expensive to manufacture at scale.
Former Cornell doctoral student Zhexun āJasonā Sun co-founded Pleryon Therapeutics, a startup based on the material, and is its chief technology officer. The company is preparing one first-in-human trial in Australia for knee osteoarthritis and another in Canada for dry eye, according to Cornell. The university's announcement did not give enrollment numbers, trial start dates or results.
What remains unknown
The material's ability to reduce friction in a laboratory does not establish whether it will be safe or effective when used in a person's knee or eye. The planned studies would be the first chance to measure its effects in people. Cornell's article says any eventual U.S. regulatory approval would depend on further evidence; no approval has been announced.
Putnam and Bonassar work in Cornell's Duffield College of Engineering. The researchers also drew support from Cornell's veterinary medicine and biotechnology programs, as well as federal research grants. Osteoarthritis affects millions of Americans, but the study has not established a benefit for them.
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