Cartago Biotech
Regenerative therapies
for spine
Cartago Biotech is developing CBT005 - a proprietary recombinant protein designed to address disc degeneration at its source. Our aim is to help people with chronic low back pain preserve function and move beyond the limits of symptomatic care and irreversible surgery.
About Cartago
Origins
Cartago was founded on a simple but ambitious idea: if we can understand how spinal discs develop and repair, we may be able to change the course of disc degeneration.
AboutThe science
The Science behind CBT005
CBT005 is a recombinant protein designed to activate the body's own repair response within damaged lumbar discs. It is being developed as a potential disease-modifying approach for people with chronic low back pain associated with disc degeneration.
Explore the scienceThe problem
Chronic low back pain affects
an enormous number of people
619M
people worldwide
living with worn-out spinal discs.
~$1,600
per person in the US
a year in low back pain costs. Around 75% is lost productivity.
273,000
inpatient lumbar fusions
performed annually in the United States.
15.1%
of those were revisions
a second operation, from 2016 to 2022.
Recognition
ISSLS Prize in Basic Science, 2018
The field's main scientific body gave its top basic-science prize to the sheep study behind CBT005.
What we doDevelopment
Where we are,
and what comes next
- August 2026 Trial activation First-in-human dosing.
- 2026–2028 Phase I/Phase II Dosing and 12-month follow-ups.
- 2027 IND filing Submission to the FDA.
- 2028–2031 Phase III Human trials in the United States.
- 2031–2032 FDA approval Regulatory review and decision.
- 2032 Market launch First commercial availability.
Forward-looking dates are indicative and depend on regulatory and clinical outcomes.
Partner with us
CBT005 is heading into its first in-human trials. We are looking for partners to help take it the rest of the way.