Israel: Helping To Make A Better World

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A regenerative medicine company based in Haifa, Israel, says its placenta-based cell therapy product could be used to treat hundreds of patients who are suffering from respiratory and inflammatory complications associated with the COVID-19 coronavirus.

“We will first approach COVID-19 patients through compassionate use so we can treat them immediately,” explained Yaky Yanay, president and CEO of the company that produces the cell therapy. “We will be able to support the healthcare system and be able to help maintain and contain this disease.”

Pluristem is moving forward with these efforts through a collaborative agreement with the BIH Center for Regenerative Therapy (BCRT) and the Berlin Center for Advanced Therapies (BeCAT) at Charité University of Medicine Berlin. Together, they are conducting a joint project evaluating the therapeutic effects of Pluristem’s patented PLX cell product on patients who are developing severe respiratory disorders, a symptom of the novel coronavirus and the cause of death for most critical patients thus far.

BCRT is a cooperative translational research institution of the Charité University Hospital in Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH).

Target patients, Yanay said, would be the aging population and those with pre-existing respiratory disorders.

In a release, Pluristem explained that its PLX cells are “allogeneic mesenchymal-like cells that have immunomodulatory properties,” meaning that they induce the immune system’s natural regulatory T cells and M2 macrophages. The result could be the reversal of dangerous overactivation of the immune system. This would likely reduce the fatal symptoms of pneumonia and pneumonitis (general inflammation of lung tissue).

Israeli cell therapy may treat respiratory effects caused by coronavirus
 
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