First-in-human PeriCord cardiac bioimplant: Scalability and GMP manufacturing of an allogeneic engineered tissue graft

Abstract

Background: Small cardiac tissue engineering constructs show promise for limiting post-infarct sequelae in animal models. This study sought to scale-up a 2-cm² preclinical construct into a human-size advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP; PeriCord), and to test it in a first-in-human implantation.

Methods: The PeriCord is a clinical-size (12-16 cm²) decellularised pericardial matrix colonised with human viable Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (WJ-MSCs). WJ-MSCs expanded following good manufacturing practices (GMP) met safety and quality standards regarding the number of cumulative population doublings, genomic stability, and sterility. Human decellularised pericardial scaffolds were tested for DNA content, matrix stiffness, pore size, and absence of microbiological growth.

Findings: PeriCord implantation was surgically performed on a large non-revascularisable scar in the inferior wall of a 63-year-old male patient. Coronary artery bypass grafting was concomitantly performed in the non-infarcted area. At implantation, the 16-cm² pericardial scaffold contained 12·5 × 10⁶ viable WJ-MSCs (85·4% cell viability; <0·51 endotoxin units (EU)/mL). Intraoperative PeriCord delivery was expeditious, and secured with surgical glue. The post-operative course showed non-adverse reaction to the PeriCord, without requiring host immunosuppression. The three-month clinical follow-up was uneventful, and three-month cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed ~9% reduction in scar mass in the treated area.

Interpretation: This preliminary report describes the development of a scalable clinical-size allogeneic PeriCord cardiac bioimplant, and its first-in-human implantation.

Funding: La Marató de TV3 Foundation, Government of Catalonia, Catalan Society of Cardiology, "La Caixa" Banking Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Institute of Health Carlos III, and the European Regional Development Fund.

Keywords: Advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP); Biofabrication; Cardiac tissue engineering; Myocardial infarction; Scaffold; Wharton's jelly-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (WJ-MSCs).