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SEOUL, Korea – L&C Bio (KOSDAQ: 290650), a leading company in regenerative medicine, is experiencing a surge in demand for its cartilage regeneration medical device, MegaCarti®, with rapid expansion into new hospitals and significantly faster surgical adoption compared to competing treatments.
As of April 19, the number of hospitals offering MegaCarti® has reached 132, up from 100 at the end of last year. The company anticipates that this figure will rise to 160 by the end of the first half of 2025, as 20–30 more hospitals are currently in the process of onboarding the treatment.
MegaCarti® is the world’s first osteoarthritis medical device that reconstructs knee cartilage using processed human-derived hyaline cartilage. Compared to stem cell therapies, it offers shorter recovery times, lower costs, and proven regenerative effects. Since receiving conditional approval under Korea’s new health technology deferment program in October last year, it has been available for non-reimbursed procedures.
Hospitals currently performing MegaCarti® procedures include Gangnam Severance Hospital, Shinchon Severance Hospital, Korea University Anam and Guro Hospitals, Boramae Medical Center, Konkuk University Hospital, Hanyang University Hospital, Ewha Womans University Seoul and Mokdong Hospitals, and Chung-Ang University Hospital.
According to L&C Bio, the number of surgeries is projected to reach 200 by mid-year, a milestone that competing therapies have taken several years to achieve. An internal source commented, “Physicians who perform MegaCarti® surgeries are showing high satisfaction, with many prescribing it to multiple patients — indicating growing confidence in the procedure.”
Positive clinical outcomes are further fueling momentum. From February, data from surgeries conducted in October became available, demonstrating significant pain reduction and cartilage regeneration within 12–13 weeks post-operation. One case involved a patient with a 9 cm³ cartilage defect, who reported disappearance of pain and high satisfaction following the procedure. To date, no post-operative dissatisfaction cases have been reported.
MegaCarti® is also seeing accelerated market penetration, outpacing established competitors. While the leading competitor Cartistem took nearly 10 years to reach 4,000 surgeries (surpassing that milestone in 2021), MegaCarti® is growing at 3–4 times the pace.
Industry analysts project MegaCarti® will generate KRW 3.2 billion (approx. USD 2.4 million) in revenue this year — a sharp trajectory compared to Cartistem, which posted KRW 700 million in its first year, followed by KRW 2 billion, KRW 2.8 billion, and KRW 4.1 billion in subsequent years.
With these results, L&C Bio’s overall 2025 revenue is expected to hit KRW 84 billion, up from KRW 68.9 billion last year. Operating profit is also projected to jump from KRW 7.9 billion to KRW 14 billion.
A company spokesperson stated, “MegaCarti® has a bright outlook. It targets up to 2.6 million patients—65% of Korea’s total osteoarthritis population. With a shorter recovery time, lower cost, and proven regenerative outcomes, the more clinical references we accumulate, the faster the growth will be.”
