31 August 2020
Release date 24 August 2020
Cynata Therapeutics Limited (ASX: CYP), a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company specialising in cell therapeutics, is pleased to announce that the MEND (MEseNchymal coviD-19) Trial is now open for patient enrolment. Following ethics committee approval (as announced on 8 May 2020), this important step represents the formal commencement of this clinical trial. The MEND Trial will investigate early efficacy of Cynata’s proprietary CymerusTM mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in adults admitted to intensive care with COVID-19.
Dr. Kilian Kelly, Cynata’s COO, said:
“The opening of enrolment of this clinical trial is a major achievement for Cynata. The trial builds on the solid pre-clinical foundations for the use of our Cymerus MSC technology in respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), as well as cytokine release syndrome and sepsis, all of which are hallmarks of critically ill COVID-19 patients.”
“Cynata’s proprietary Cymerus technology uniquely enables the manufacture at scale of a consistent and robust MSC product without the substantial functional heterogeneity, i.e. lack of consistency, that has been observed between MSC batches derived from different donors. We look forward to advancing this clinical trial to investigate the potential benefits our MSCs could have to treat patients in dire need during this global pandemic.”
