Summary

Regen Med recently attended the 17th Annual Conference of the International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science (iFATS).  The conference brought together approximately 350 attendees from various disciplines within regenerative medicine who discussed progress made in the basic science and  clinical application of adipose tissue-based therapies in a broad range of medical specialties.

Key take home messages:

1. Participation by industry representatives at the conference was very active with leading edge exhibits and a very intense industry showcase within the main programme.  Numerous industry delegates at the conference recognized the value of Regen Med’s inCytes™ platform in the collection of real world (clinical) evidence and a number requested a proposal during the meeting.
2. Among the exhibitors was AABB, the premier international organization for standards setting and accreditation in cellular therapies and transfusion medicine.  AABB and iFATS have collaborated in recent months in the development of standards for improved patient outcomes and safety in adipose therapeutics.  The public comment phase of the preparation of these guidelines has now closed and they will be finalized in the near future.  Collection of patient outcome data and the development of patient registries are key elements of these guidelines thereby underscoring once again the importance of a platform such as inCytes™.
3. The pre programme iFATS course held on Wednesday, December 4th was very well attended and focussed on the steps to be undertaken by someone wishing to enter the field of adipose tissue therapies and on best practices.  The panellists reviewed the latest surgical techniques and the currently available point of care, same day adipose tissue preparation kits in addition to culture-expanded cell products.
4. In a two-hour industry showcase on Thursday morning, Prof Jeremy Magalon presented analyses he had performed, in collaboration with manufacturers, in the months preceding the conference on a range of medical devices for the preparation of adipose tissue and PRP.  Key conclusions from this excellent work were that there is considerable inter-device variability in terms of the cellular content of the adipose tissue preparation and that there is a need to increase the body of clinical evidence in this field.
5. In addition to the traditional focus on the use of adipose tissue in plastic and reconstructive surgery, iFATS 2019 saw the presentation of interesting clinical data on the application of adipose tissue in orthopaedics, revascularization in diabetic foot patients, radiotherapy lesions and neurology.
6. Dr Peter Rubin made a key presentation on the safety aspects of fat gluteal grafting in which he summarized the work done over the past months by the ISPRES working group which included delegates from iFATS.  The group has identified important aspects of the surgical approach which impact on safety and these will be made public in the near future.
7. There was lively discussion at the iFATS Members Meeting which was held on the final day of the Conference.  The current resources available to members were presented and future strategic directions were debated openly and frankly.  The latter will likely include the development of a patient registry which is seen as key in the standardization of adipose tissue-based therapies.
8. During the conference, a number of attendees expressed strong interest in Regen Med’s proposal to co-invest with clinical partners to establish, operate and expand networks of Regenerative Medicine Centers of Excellence.  Project planning for such networks is now ongoing with interested parties.