Some hopeful news. One Israeli company has created a treatment for the Wuhan Coronavirus that has thus far proved to be 100 percent effective in treating the virus.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the company Pluristem created a placenta-based cell-therapy that has not only helped patients survive but also improve respiratory parameters to boot. These patients were in dire straights while being tested with organ failures across the board:
The patients were treated at three different Israeli medical centers for one week under the country’s compassionate use program and were suffering from acute respiratory failure and inflammatory complications associated with COVID-19. Four of the patients also demonstrated failure of other organ systems, including cardiovascular and kidney failure.
Not only have all the patients survived, according to Pluristem, but four of them showed improvement in respiratory parameters and three of them are in the advanced stages of weaning from ventilators. Moreover, two of the patients with preexisting medical conditions are showing clinical recovery in addition to the respiratory improvement.
“We are pleased with this initial outcome of the compassionate use program and committed to harnessing PLX cells for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems,” said Pluristem CEO and president Yaky Yanay. “Pluristem is dedicated to using its competitive advantages in large-scale manufacturing to potentially deliver PLX cells to a large number of patients in significant need.”
The Jerusalem Post reported that the company plans to apply to multiple nations to begin clinical trials for complications associated with Cornavirus symptoms. This includes the FDA in the United States who Pluristem is already talking with in order to “define our clinical strategy for COVID-19.”
How does the treatment work?
According to Pluristem, the PLX cells are “allogeneic mesenchymal-like cells that have immunomodulatory properties.” Translated, that means that they harness our own immune system’s regulatory T cells and M2 macrophages to prevent overactivation of the immune system. This helps us avoid the symptoms of pneumonia and pneumonitis from becoming fatal.
Animal trials have shown that the treatment showed major improvements in regards to “pulmonary hypertension, lung fibrosis, acute kidney injury and gastrointestinal injury,” according to the Post.