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Article History

Received: 23 September 2025

Accepted: 2 February 2026

First Online: 13 February 2026

Declarations

:

: HASCs and HC-OA cells were purchased from commercial vendors (Matica Biolabs and Cell Applications). Matica Biolabs confirmed that hASCs were obtained with Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval (CHAMC IRB 2019-05-040-036), and donor informed consent, in compliance with ethical guidelines. Furthermore, according to the vendor’s bioethical guidelines, we confirmed that HC-OA cells were obtained from procurement organizations in the United States including Organ Procurement Organization (OPO), Tissue Banks (TB), and Eye Banks (EB). These organizations operate in compliance with laws regarding informed consent, including guidelines from the office for human research protections (45 CFR Part 46) and protection of human subjects (21 CFR Part 50 Subpart B). All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the Catholic University of Korea (CUMC-2021-0260-01) and performed by National efficacy evaluation center for the health products targeting arthritis and immune diseases (CAID), which operates under its oversight. (Study title: “Evaluation of the efficacy of Cartisome in treating osteoarthritis”; approval number: CAID 034-0221-202121; approval date: Jul 16, 2021).

: Not applicable.

: Y.W.C. are stockholders of Exostemtech, Inc. J.S.C., W.S.K., C.H.W., K.S.L., and Y.C.C. are employed by Exostemtech, Inc.