ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT00424567Updated May 11, 2021

Feasibility Study of Aastrom Tissue Repair Cells to Treat Non-Union Fractures.

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Fracture surgery and Cultured Bone Marrow Tissue in Fracture, Ununited and Pseudarthrosis, sponsored by Vericel Corporation. Terminated at 4 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-05-11.

Primary conditionPseudarthrosisRegistry: Fractures, UnunitedReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Fractures, Ununited — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Pseudarthrosis
Why
  1. The study's listed conditions name Pseudarthrosis, a narrower term within Fractures, Ununited.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by Vericel Corporation · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was terminated
Closed early for business reasons (not safety reasons)
Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
36
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this multi-center study is to obtain clinical data to substantiate that Aastrom TRC autologous bone marrow cells will regenerate bone in patients with established (appendicular skeletal) non union fractures, when used with one of the commonly employed commercially available allograft chip matrices.

Read the detailed description

The current standard of care for regeneration of atrophic long bone fracture non-union is autologous bone and marrow chiseled from the patient's iliac crest in open surgery under general anesthesia. This method for harvesting bone and marrow is associated with substantial morbidity of long-term pain, the possibility of deep-seated infection at the site of the bone harvest and other indirect consequences such as extended time of surgery, substantial expense and the potential for blood transfusion. The procedure is also associated with a bone graft failure rate of at least 20%.

Due to the substantial morbidity resulting from the aggressive open surgical procedure, alternatives are sought. Current alternatives to autologous bone include commercially available synthetic, xenograft and allograft matrices, either used alone or combined with bone autograft. Cell-free substitutes, such as matrices combined with platelet rich plasma or recombinant bone morphogenic proteins for osteoinductivity, are also used. These alternatives, although less morbid than a full bone harvest, have not yet been stringently determined to be equivalent. Therefore, there is a continuing search for additional improved alternatives.

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. has developed a unique process for growing human bone marrow, including the early stem cell populations, from small samples of percutaneously aspirated bone marrow. The process is carried out in the AastromReplicell Cell Production System (ARS).

The study will be performed to obtain clinical data to substantiate that Aastrom TRC autologous bone marrow cells will regenerate bone in patients with established non union fractures, when used with one of the commonly employed commercially available allograft chip matrices.

The bone marrow cells will be obtained by a brief, percutaneous, small volume aspiration (approximately 30 - 50 ml) from the posterior iliac crest obtained under local and conscious sedation. Percutaneous marrow aspiration is substantially less morbid and time consuming than the current open surgical process of bone autograft harvest.

The study will treat up to 36 patients (11 in the first group and 25 in a second group).

Patients will be treated using standard surgical procedures for the treatment of non union fractures (including commonly used hardware needed to stabilize the fracture). The processed cells will be mixed with commercially available bone matrix during surgery and placed in the area of the fracture.

Patients will be monitored for 12 months following the surgery.

02

Conditions studied

  • Fracture, Ununited
  • Pseudarthrosis

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Keywords

  • Fracture
  • non union fracture
  • ununited fracture
  • pseudarthrosis
03

In context

Pseudarthrosis Reclassified

41 studies on the registry are indexed under Pseudarthrosis; 7 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 36 is above the median of 22 across 25 interventional studies indexed under Pseudarthrosis.

Browse Pseudarthrosis studies →

Lead sponsor

Vericel Corporation is the lead sponsor of 14 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.

Compared within Pseudarthrosis, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Fractures, Ununited. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Type IIIA or IIIB fracture
  • Fracture gap \< 6 cm.
  • Distance of > 4 cm from joint
  • No clinical signs of infection at the wound site or fracture site.
  • Adult patients >18 years of age.
  • Male patients or female patients who are not pregnant or lactating.
  • Patients must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:

    1. Leukocytes >=3000/microliters
    2. >=1500/microliters
    3. >=100,000/microliters
    4. (SGOT)/ALT (SGPT) \<2.5 x institutional limits
    5. Creatinine within normal limits or calculated)>=60 mL/min/1.73 square miter with creatinine above institutional normal.
  • Patients able to give

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Other long bone fractures, e.g clavicle
  • Patients unable to discontinue ethanol use after surgery including those requiring pharmacologic adjuvant assistance.

    1. Although not an exclusion criteria, the attending physician shall discuss with the patient the advantages of discontinuing smoking cigarettes and/or cigars during the term of the study including discontinuing the use of pharmacologic adjuvant assistance such as nicotine suppression.
    2. The use or discontinuance of ethanol and/or cigarettes/cigars will be noted in the patient's case report forms.
  • Patients who require anti-inflammatory therapy after surgery.
  • Patients with genetic metabolic bone disease such as hypophosphatasia, or metabolic bone disorders such as primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism caused by chronic renal insufficiency or other disorders.
  • Patients unable to tolerate general anesthesia defined as an ASA criteria of 0 or 1.
  • Patients on systemic antibiotics for suspected wound or fracture site infection.
  • Patients with diabetes.
  • Glasgow score of \< 13.
  • Injury severity score of > 25.
  • Allergy to protein products derived from mammalian sources (horse, bovine or porcine) required in the ex-vivo cell production process.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(6)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
36 participants

Interventions

  • ProcedureFracture surgery
  • DrugCultured Bone Marrow Tissue
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The primary endpoint will be the proportion of patients with demonstrated healing, including bone formation, at 12 months (or until completely healed) from surgery.

07

Study locations

4 sites
  • Illinois Bone and Joint Institute
    Des Plaines, Illinois 60016, United States
  • University of Michigan Medical School
    Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States
  • William Beaumont Hospital
    Royal Oak, Michigan 48073, United States
  • Lutheran Medical Center
    Brooklyn, New York 11220, United States
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Oct 2003 and a completion of Jun 2007. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jan 18, 2007
First posted
Jan 19, 2007
Start
Oct 2003
Completion
Jun 2007
Last update
May 11, 2021
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 11, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00424567
Lead sponsor
Vericel Corporation
First posted
Jan 19, 2007
Start date
Oct 2003
Completion
Jun 2007
Last update
May 11, 2021

Study contacts

Matthew Jimenez, MD
principal investigator · Illinosis Bone and Joint Institute
James Goulet, MD
principal investigator · University of Michigan
Thomas Lyon, MD
principal investigator · Lutheran Medical Center
Nowinski, MD
principal investigator · William Beaumont Hospitals
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is terminated, as verified in May 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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