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An Australian company is at the forefront of the coronavirus battle after developing a revolutionary new treatment which makes use of stem cells.
Stem cells have long been used in medicine at they have the ability to develop into many different cell types. In this instance they are being used to "switch off" the immune response of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
The stem cell treatment "switches off" overreactive immune responses. (Supplied)
While this may seem counter-intuitive, CEO of Mesoplast, Silviu Itescu, explained the leading cause of death once the virus hits a patient's lungs is an "overreactive" immune system.
"We have been developing [the cell therapy] for many years," he told Today.
"When you infuse the cells, they go straight to the lungs and they are able to tame down the excessive immune response in a way that allows immune system to fight the virus without overreacting and destroying the healthy lung tissue."
A patient is wheeled out of Cobble Hill Health Center by emergency medical workers, Friday, April 17, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
The despair wrought on nursing homes by the coronavirus was laid bare Friday in a state survey identifying numerous New York facilities where multiple patients have died. Nineteen of the states nursing homes have each had at least 20 deaths linked to the pandemic.
Cobble Hill Health Center was listed as having 55 deaths. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (AP/AAP)
Initial trials of the stem cell treatment in the United States are promising, and have shown an 83 per cent survival rate for patients critically ill with COVID-19.
While the sample tested has been small, Mr Itescu said they are about to roll out phase three of the trial to hundreds of patients in the United States.
Vice President Mike Pence, center, visits a patient who survived the coronavirus and was going to give blood during a tour of the Mayo Clinic Tuesday, April 28, 2020, in Rochester, Minn. (AP/AAP)
He hopes to soon test the treatment in Australia.
"That will probably take about three to four months to complete," he said."If the results are good we hope to be able to get the treatment approved in the US and also in Australia. In the meantime, we will do a parallel study in Australia across sites in Melbourne and in Sydney.
"We hope to have a full set of data over the next four months or so."
The news comes as the nation's death toll climbed to 88 overnight, the number of active cases have reached 6731.
https://9now.nine.com.au/today/coro...reatment/675d9fde-c95b-4775-819b-be1ca5fd6ba8
Stem cells have long been used in medicine at they have the ability to develop into many different cell types. In this instance they are being used to "switch off" the immune response of critically ill COVID-19 patients.
The stem cell treatment "switches off" overreactive immune responses. (Supplied)
While this may seem counter-intuitive, CEO of Mesoplast, Silviu Itescu, explained the leading cause of death once the virus hits a patient's lungs is an "overreactive" immune system.
"We have been developing [the cell therapy] for many years," he told Today.
"When you infuse the cells, they go straight to the lungs and they are able to tame down the excessive immune response in a way that allows immune system to fight the virus without overreacting and destroying the healthy lung tissue."
A patient is wheeled out of Cobble Hill Health Center by emergency medical workers, Friday, April 17, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
The despair wrought on nursing homes by the coronavirus was laid bare Friday in a state survey identifying numerous New York facilities where multiple patients have died. Nineteen of the states nursing homes have each had at least 20 deaths linked to the pandemic.
Cobble Hill Health Center was listed as having 55 deaths. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) (AP/AAP)
Initial trials of the stem cell treatment in the United States are promising, and have shown an 83 per cent survival rate for patients critically ill with COVID-19.
While the sample tested has been small, Mr Itescu said they are about to roll out phase three of the trial to hundreds of patients in the United States.
Vice President Mike Pence, center, visits a patient who survived the coronavirus and was going to give blood during a tour of the Mayo Clinic Tuesday, April 28, 2020, in Rochester, Minn. (AP/AAP)
He hopes to soon test the treatment in Australia.
"That will probably take about three to four months to complete," he said."If the results are good we hope to be able to get the treatment approved in the US and also in Australia. In the meantime, we will do a parallel study in Australia across sites in Melbourne and in Sydney.
"We hope to have a full set of data over the next four months or so."
The news comes as the nation's death toll climbed to 88 overnight, the number of active cases have reached 6731.
https://9now.nine.com.au/today/coro...reatment/675d9fde-c95b-4775-819b-be1ca5fd6ba8
