Off-the-shelf Cell Therapy Remestemcel-L Targeting the Lethal Complication of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Mesoblast CEO Dr. Silviu Itescu speaks to Lonza about the company’s advanced portfolio of anti-inflammatory allogeneic cellular medicines including remestemcel-L, which is currently being evaluated in a U.S. Phase 3 randomized controlled trial for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the principal cause of mortality due to COVID-19 infection.
Most COVID-19-related deaths result from ARDS, an overactive immune response that creates overwhelming inflammation in lung tissue. As the world suffers in the grip of this pandemic, some hope comes from Mesoblast. They have dedicated the past 15 years to developing a portfolio of product candidates based on mesenchymal lineage cells to treat severe inflammatory diseases such as graft versus host disease, advanced heart failure, and chronic low back pain. Their strategy for treating inflammatory diseases uses cellular medicines instead of small molecules or monoclonal antibodies, thereby treating an out-of-control immune system on a systemic level by impacting multiple inflammatory pathways at the same time. This positions them well to provide much-needed treatment for those COVID-19 ARDS patients left with few – or no – options. The Phase 3 trial was informed by the positive results from an emergency compassionate use protocol in patients on mechanical ventilation with COVID-19 ARDS at Mt Sinai Hospital in New York where 75% (nine of 12) patients were discharged home compared to a mortality rate of around 80% recorded in New York over the same time period in patients with COVID-19 ARDS who were not treated with remestemcel-L. Interim analyses of the 300-patient trial are planned, and Mesoblast Chief Executive Dr. Silviu Itescu is eagerly awaiting results.
Curious to Know More?
Listen to the conversation between Lonza and Mesoblast Chief Executive Dr. Silviu Itescu in this episode of the podcast, "A View On."KEY TERMS:
Cellular medicine: The use of cells already found in the human body, frequently modified and enhanced, to treat diseases.
Mesenchymal lineage cells: Cells whose function is to sense tissue inflammation through specific receptors for inflammatory cytokines and then secrete anti-inflammatory factors. They are present in all vascularized tissue and act as regulators that enable normal immune response in all organs. To learn more, visit: www.mesoblast.com/science/mesenchymal-lineage-cells.
Immune cascade: When the body’s complementary immune system produces additional proteins, such as cytokines, to enhance the ability of antibodies to defend against microbes and damaged cells.
Cytokines: These extremely small proteins, important in cell signaling, modulate immune responses. Mesoblast’s mesenchymal lineage cells interact with cytokines to modulate the inflammatory response of the immune system.
Cytokine storm: This is when the body quickly releases too many cytokines into the blood, creating an exaggerated immune system inflammatory response that can be harmful and even deadly.
Multimodal immune activation: When the body activates multiple immune responses to attack a virus or foreign body, potentially leading to dangerous inflammation of tissues in vital organs. The advantage of Mesoblast’s technology is that, unlike small molecules and monoclonal antibodies, their cellular medicines can simultaneously regulate several of these responses.