Cryopreserved umbilical allograft (equicenta® CTM) improves clinical outcomes compared with clinician-selected standard of care in performance horses: a pragmatic prospective controlled trial.

Introduction: This multicenter, prospective, controlled clinical study and client survey evaluated the safety and effectiveness of an equine umbilical tissue suspension (equicenta® CTM; eCTM, 2:1) compared with clinician-selected standard of care (SOC) for treating lame performance horses. Methods: This pragmatic, real-world, open-label study enrolled horses diagnosed with appendicular musculoskeletal conditions affecting the joints, tendons, or ligaments under owner consent and an intention-to-treat design with an optional crossover after no improvement at 12 weeks and per-protocol Results: Enrolled horses ( Discussion/conclusion: In this pragmatic setting, a single, off-the-shelf injection of eCTM was associated with earlier, greater, and more durable improvements in clinical and performance outcomes than clinician-selected non-steroidal SOC. The open-label design and flexible SOC comparators reflect real-world application of biologics and may have introduced expectation and treatment selection biases, although none were identified in post-sensitivity analyses. The magnitude and consistency of between-group differences across clinical, owner-reported, and kinematic outcome measures suggest an observed treatment effect. Overall, these positive findings suggest that eCTM may offer a single-dose alternative to clinician SOC approaches for selected musculoskeletal conditions in lame performance horses. Clinical trial registration: https://studypages.com/dashboard/ unique identifier is VCT #26005934.