Five seriously or critically ill patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have been discharged after receiving an innovative treatment at Israel's Jerusalem-based Hadassah Medical Center, which was jointly developed by the health body with the country's clinical-stage Enlivex Therapeutics biotechnology company, both organizations have stated
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd October, 2020) Five seriously or critically ill patients who tested positive for COVID-19 have been discharged after receiving an innovative treatment at Israel's Jerusalem-based Hadassah Medical Center, which was jointly developed by the health body with the country's clinical-stage Enlivex Therapeutics biotechnology company, both organizations have stated.
The clinical testing was carried out with a newly-designed medication, dubbed Allocetra, which was created based on research conducted by Prof. Dror Mevorach, who is Enlivex's Chief Scientific and Medical Officer, and leads one of Hadassah's COVID-19 outbreak units.
"Based on the positive results of the first five COVID-19 patients in severe or critical condition, taken together with the positive safety and efficacy results of Allocetra in 10 sepsis patients in a previous study, the Company has determined to shift recruitment of additional patients from the investigator-initiated clinical trial into a larger Phase II clinical trial of COVID-19 patients in severe or critical condition as soon as reasonably practicable, subject to regulatory approval," Enlivex said in a statement.
The treatment was conducted during the medication's first clinical stage, which began in early August and is expected to run until February 2021.
According to the statement, Enlivex believes that the drug, if it is subsequently approved, can potentially make up the difference in treating severe and critical coronavirus patients, as a significant surge in COVID-19 cases has still been ongoing in Israel.
To date, Israeli health officials have confirmed over 256,000 cases, including 1,629 fatalities, with over 8,600 and 6,000 new cases registered on September 30 and October 1, respectively. Around 900 patients are in critical condition.
Hadassah said that the trial participants, who received human cells taken from healthy live donors, were discharged five and six days after taking Allocetra.
According to both organizations, the medicine was originally developed to cure a wide range of patients, including those who have overactive immune systems, and has also successfully passed a test on another 10 people who are sick with sepsis or blood poisoning, as Allocetra is claimed to clear the bloodstream of dying cells.
