Candidate: COVID-19 treatment based on newborn stem cells.
Type: Research-donated, umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
Status: Cord Blood Registry (CBR) and NantKwest said August 10 they will partner to develop a COVID-19 treatment leveraging newborn stem cells. CBR agreed to provide research-donated umbilical cord tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to NantKwest for expansion using the proprietary modular, closed bioreactor system of NantKwest affiliate ImmunityBio.
NantKwest said the resulting treatment is expected to expand the scope and impact of its planned clinical trials—and will enable the company to follow up quickly on its allogeneic bone marrow-derived MSCs, the subject of a Phase Ib trial in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) resulting from severe COVID-19.
Patient trials expected to begin in the fall, the companies said. They anticipate their FDA-approved treatment will reach the market by early 2021.
COVID-19: 200 Candidates and Counting
To navigate through the >200 potential therapeutic and vaccine options for COVID-19, GEN has grouped the candidates into four broad categories based on their developmental and (where applicable) clinical progress:
● FRONT RUNNER – the most promising therapeutics/vaccines based on clinical progress, favorable data or both.
● DEFINITELY MAYBE – earlier phases with promising partners, or more advanced candidates in development that have generated uneven data.
● KEEPING AN EYE ON… – interesting technology, attracting notable partners, or both, but preliminary data.
● TOO SOON TO TELL – longshots pending additional experimental and/or clinical data.
GEN has also tagged the most common treatment types:
● ANTIVIRAL
● VAX
● ANTIBODY
● RNA
