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Wize Pharma's Strategic Transaction Partner Bonus Biogroup Initiates Preclinical Study for Treatment of Respiratory Distress in COVID-19 Patients
PR Newswire PR Newswire•April 21, 2020

- Wize Pharma owns 8.9% of Bonus BioGroup

- Bonus BioGroup's mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-based drug MesenCure intended to treat acute and life-threatening respiratory distress resulting from COVID-19 and other causes targeting a potential current market of over 1 billion patients


HOD HASHARON, Israel, April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Wize Pharma, Inc. (OTCQB: WIZP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of ophthalmic disorders, today announced that Bonus BioGroup (TASE: BONS.TA), a company in which Wize owns 8.9% of its equity securities, has initiated a preclinical study of its drug product candidate MesenCure, specifically developed to potentially treat acute and life-threatening respiratory distress and pneumonia whether as a result of infection with coronavirus (COVID-19), or any other type of virus, bacterial infection, or exposure to other contaminants.

MesenCure consists of activated mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) that are isolated from the adipose tissue of healthy donors. Following intravenous transfusion, the activated cells are expected to reach the lungs and act to reduce inflammation, and alleviate respiratory and other symptoms. Bonus BioGroup has more than a decade of MSC-related experience, patented technologies, and in-house MSC manufacturing capacity based on the development of its lead clinical stage BonoFill™, a tissue-engineered bone graft product.
Bonus BioGroup has reported that preliminary efficacy data from the MesenCure study are expected in May 2020, with study completion anticipated in the third quarter of 2020.
MesenCure may be useful for treating a variety of indications, such as lower respiratory tract infections, acute respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. According to the Forum of International Respiratory Societies, more than 1 billion people are suffering from inflammatory diseases of the lower respiratory tract worldwide, which cause an estimated 7.5 million deaths each year, and are the third leading cause of death in Europe, not including COVID-19 mortality data.

"Bonus BioGroup's MesenCure, specifically developed to potentially treat the respiratory complications of COVID-19. Moreover, MesenCure addresses the broader need for an effective treatment for millions of patients each year suffering from inflammatory diseases of the lower respiratory tract,," stated Noam Danenberg, CEO of Wize.
About Bonus BioGroup
Bonus BioGroup is an Israeli biotechnology company whose highly innovative, proprietary therapeutic platform for healing severe bone defects is strongly positioned to break into the $8 billion global bone rehabilitation market. The company's BonoFill™ solution which employs novel tissue engineering technology for growing live human bone grafts has been selected by the Israeli Ministry of Science as a technology that will change the world forever, and it is already achieving outstanding success rates in Phase I/II clinical trials. The BonoFill™ solution is a revolutionary approach for personalized treatment of bone defects using live bone grafts created from the patient's own cells. Patients undergo a simple liposuction procedure to harvest fat tissue, which is then engineered into bone using Bonus BioGroup's proprietary technology. Upon injection into the bone defect, the bone graft grows, connects and matures to become healthy new autologous bone, while reducing the risk of rejection.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wize-pharmas-strategic-transaction-partner-130000675.html