Published: September 30, 2026
Norton Leatherman Spine is helping shape what’s next in spine care as one of a limited number of sites nationwide participating in a back pain clinical trial evaluating an investigational disc cell therapy for lumbar degenerative disc disease.
Back pain remains one of the most significant drivers of disability and lost productivity in the U.S. health care system. Most adults — as many as 80% — will experience low back pain at some point in their lives, and at any given time, roughly 1 in 4 U.S. adults is currently dealing with it. Each year, nearly 14% of the population experiences chronic back pain lasting two weeks or longer, making it a common reason for physician visits and the second-leading cause of hospitalization overall. Around 30 million Americans seek professional care for a spine-related issue annually.
While the overall prevalence of back pain has held relatively steady over the past two decades, the share of patients describing chronic back pain has more than doubled since the early 1990s. That shift matters clinically and financially: Back pain is associated with substantially higher healthcare costs, and spine-related care now rivals cancer, diabetes and arthritis in national medical spending.
It’s against this backdrop — a persistent, costly condition with limited treatment options between conservative care and surgery — that Norton Leatherman Spine’s participation in the DiscGenics disc cell clinical trial takes on added significance.
“Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of IDCT in Subjects with Single-level, Symptomatic Mild-to-moderate Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Degeneration” is a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled, multicenter trial sponsored by DiscGenics.
Injectable disc cell therapy (IDCT) is an allogeneic, injectable cell therapy that uses proprietary discogenic cells (rebonuputemcel) to treat mild-to-moderate adult lumbar disc degeneration. This experimental medical treatment for chronic back pain introduces live, specialized cells directly into a damaged spinal disc to reduce inflammation and repair tissue. This treatment is designed to address symptomatic lumbar degenerative disc disease at its source rather than simply managing symptoms. This may be a potential option for patients with chronic back pain who have exhausted conservative care but aren’t yet candidates for spine surgery.
“There are many patients with disabling back pain for whom conservative treatments have failed,” Dr. Glassman said. “However, they do not have a problem that would be treated effectively by surgery. This common scenario is frustrating for both the patient and physician. The cellular therapy being studied in this trial, if successful, would be a great alternative because it has the potential to slow degeneration and avoid future surgeries.”
The trial expects to enroll a total of 162 participants ages 18 to 75 across 30 to 35 spine centers nationwide. Norton Leatherman Spine’s enrollment goal is five participants.
Notably, none of the region’s other major health systems are currently participating, positioning Norton Leatherman Spine as the only local access point for this therapy.
The core criteria for participation in this study includes:
Inclusion and exclusion criteria are narrow, but because IDCT represents the only treatment option currently available for this specific patient profile, the research team is cautiously optimistic about recruitment once enrollment opens.