Mesoblast Ltd ADR (MESO)

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Mesoblast Reports 10 Out Of 12 Patients With Ventilator-Dependent Coronavirus Infection Survived Following 2 Intravenous Infusions Of Co.'s Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cell Product Candidate Remestemcel-L
6:04 am ET April 24, 2020 (Benzinga) Print
Mesoblast Limited (NASDAQ:MESO, ASX:MSB)) today announced 83% survival in ventilator-dependent COVID-19 patients (10/12) with moderate/severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) treated during the period March-April 2020 with two intravenous infusions of Mesoblast’s allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell product candidate remestemcel-L within the first five days. 75% (9/12) have successfully come off ventilator support at a median of 10 days. At this time, seven have been discharged from the hospital. Patients received a variety of experimental agents prior to remestemcel-L. All patients were treated under an emergency Investigational New Drug (IND) application or expanded access protocol at New York City’s Mt Sinai hospital.

In contrast, only 9% (38/445) of ventilator-dependent COVID-19 patients at a major referral hospital network in New York City were able to come off ventilator support when treated with standard of care during March/April 2020.1 Moreover, there was 88% mortality with only 12% survival (38/320) among ventilator-dependent COVID-19 patients at a second major referral hospital network in New York City during the same period.2 These poor outcomes are consistent with earlier published data from China where mortality rates of over 80% were reported in patients with COVID-19 and moderate/severe ARDS.3

Mesoblast Chief Executive Dr Silviu Itescu stated: “The remarkable clinical outcomes in these critically ill patients continue to underscore the potential benefits of remestemcel-L as an anti-inflammatory agent in cytokine release syndromes associated with high mortality, including acute graft versus host disease and COVID-19 ARDS. We intend to rapidly complete the randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 2/3 trial in COVID-19 ARDS patients to rigorously confirm that remestemcel-L improves survival in these critically ill patients.”

Mesoblast Chief Medical Officer Dr Fred Grossman said: “There is a significant need to improve the dismal survival outcomes in COVID-19 patients who progress to ARDS and require ventilators. We have implemented robust statistical analyses in our Phase 2/3 trial as recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to maximize our ability to evaluate whether remestemcel-L provides a survival benefit in moderate/severe COVID-19 ARDS.”

References
1 Petrilli CM et al. Factors associated with hospitalization and critical illness among 4,103 patients with COVID-19 disease in New York City. MedRxiv 2020 doi: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.08.20057794v1.full.pdf

2 Richardson S et al. Presenting characteristics, comorbidities, and outcomes among 5700 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the New York City area. JAMA 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6775

3 Liu Y et al. Clinical features and progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome in coronavirus disease 2019. MedRxiv 2020; https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.08.20057794v1.full.pdf

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