Mesoblast

Mesoblast has an intellectual property portfolio of more than 1000 patents or patent applications including the use of mesenchymal stem cells/mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) for treatment of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), inflammatory lung disease due to COVID-19, influenza and other viruses.

Their MSC product called Remestemcel-L is being testing in clinical trials for inflammatory conditions including elderly patients with lung disease and adults and children with steroid-refractory acute graft-vs.-host disease (aGVHD). Mesoblast’s stem cell therapy is under review by the FDA for treatment of children with steroid-refractory aGVHD. Remestemcel-L is being developed for rare pediatric and adult inflammatory conditions. The product is comprised of culture-expanded MSCs derived from bone marrow of an unrelated donor (allogeneic) that is administered in a series of intravenous infusions. The therapy is thought to have immunomodulatory properties which counteract inflammatory processes including down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, increasing production of anti-inflammatory cytokines and enabling recruitment of anti-inflammatory cells already in the body to the diseased tissue. Remestemcel-L is previously known under the product name Prochymal by the company Osiris Therapeutics. In 2013 Mesoblast acquired Prochymal and Osiris’ culture-expanded mesenchymal stem cell business.

As of March 2020, Mesoblast has plans to evaluate its allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) candidate, remestemcel-L in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by COVID-19 in the US, Australia, China and Europe. ARDS is the and immune system overreaction to the virus in the lungs that causes severe damage to lung tissue. Allogeneic MSCs have been reported to cure or significantly improve functional outcomes of seven treated patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia in a clinical study in China. Remestercel-L infusions have been tested on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) shown to be well tolerated, reduce inflammatory biomarkers and improve pulmonary function in patients with elevated inflammatory biomarkers. The same inflammatory markers are elevated in patients with ARDS due to COVID-19.