Replies to post #8211 on Sorrento Therapeutics Inc (SRNE)

[dia76ca]

Sorrento has announced great success in all 4 of the first Covid ARDS patients treated with COVI-MSC its adipose-derived stem cells. Was this just luck? ARDS from all causes affects about 200,000 Americans annually and has a mortality rate of 30-50%...and even those who survive frequently have long term serious health issues(the mortality rate for mild, moderate and severe ARDS is 27%, 32% and 45% respectively).
It is apparent that there is more than luck involved in COVI-MSC success. In fact bone marrow derived stem cells success has already been reported. Which treatment might be superior? The report cited below argues that adipose(belly fat) derived stem cells may offer certain advantages.
"ASCs possess qualities that may make them better suited for the treatment of inflammatory lung diseases than other types of MSCs. They display a lower senescence ratio, higher proliferative capacity and are more genetically and morphologically stable in long-term culture when compared with BM-MSCs [126, 127]. In vitro, ASCs are more resistant to apoptosis [128]. Kim et al. demonstrated that ASCs show a significantly greater angiogenic potential when compared with BM-MSCs that suggests they may be effective for the treatment of ischemia associated vascular injuries [129].

Although it was initially shown that ASCs and BM-MSCs exhibit similar immunosuppressive properties in vitro [130], more recent studies suggest that ASCs may be superior to BM-MSCs in this respect as well. ASCs suppress IgG production to a much greater extent [131], and more strongly inhibit the differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells [132]. When compared with BM-MSCs, ASCs cocultured with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were shown to more strongly inhibit PBMC proliferation and produce lower concentrations of IFN-?, IL-12 and TNF- a. When cocultured with monocytes, ASC production of IL-10 was more pronounced and resulted in lower levels of IL-6 secretion which led to greater inhibition of immature dendritic cell generation [133]. Collectively, these results suggest that ASCs may be more effective at immune suppression when compared with BM-MSCs."

Will COVI-MSC turn out to be the best medical and most cost effective choice? That's what the trial is about. This article is worth reading.
https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-020-02380-2

[Alyssa]

Would love to hear from the 4th patient who was extremely sick, having had to be intubated and placed on a respirator, and was discharged almost immediately after the 3rd treatment. Sounds like a miracle to me. Four out of four ain't bad. Amazing work by Sorrento...