Patent ID: 8426558

Claim:
A method of treating osteoarthritis, comprising: diagnosing an area of patient as being osteoarthritic; administering an intra-articular injection of a therapeutically effective amount of a formulation comprised of a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and a peptide which is characterized by providing dose dependent generation of cartilage in the area; allowing the formulation to act on the osteoarthritic area; and examining the area of the patient to determine a change in cartilage relative to a time prior to the administering, wherein the peptide comprises at least 20 and no more than 50 amino acid residues, wherein the sequence has the formula of DLXXXXXNDXXPFXXXXQXF (SEQ ID NO:1), wherein X is any amino acid and the peptide is further characterized by a biological activity which enhances hard tissue growth, and wherein the amino acid may be in the D- or L-configuration.