In Belgium, a new therapy saves four children from amputation: a major medical advance

Researchers in Belgium have been focusing on congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia (PCT), a very rare bone disorder that leads to spontaneous fractures that cannot heal naturally. The great news is that a new treatment has been successfully tested.

This bone disease affects between 1 in 140,000 and 1 in 250,000 live newborns, reports the Belgian news website Moustique. Today, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc and the Belgian company Novadip Biosciences are delighted to have been able to treat four children with PCT using autologous therapy, a treatment based on an implant (NVD003) that acts like a biological ‘plasticine’ to avoid amputation. For the co-founder and CEO of Novadip, Dr Denis Dufrane, the objective is very clear: "to make this solution accessible to as many children as possible affected by this pathology."

After 7 years of follow-up

It was in January 2018, as part of compassionate use programmes validated and made possible by the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP), that the operations were carried out by the paediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Saint-Luc, Pierre-Louis Docquier. After treatment and follow-up for 4 to 7 years, the four children showed complete bone consolidation, with no adverse effects and no new fractures.

Market launch in 2027

At the beginning of 2025, Novadip indicated that new clinical trials would also be carried out with four other patients suffering from congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia. The Belgian company plans to bring the NVD003 implant to market in 2027. "The results obtained after several years using this innovative regenerative therapy in these young patients are quite simply exceptional," enthuses Prof Docquier.

(MH with Raphaël Liset - Source : Moustique - Illustration : ©Unsplash)