Covid-19: Infarmed authorise stem cell therapy to treat severe cases

Portuguese newspaper “Público” have reported that Infarmed have authorised the use of a therapy in Portugal that uses stem cells from the umbilical cord to reduce inflammation in the most serious cases of Covid-19. 

Developed by the company Crioestaminal, the drug is still experimental and can not be sold, but it can already be used in hospitals that request it.

“It is a therapy that uses mesenchymal cells, also called MSC, and the results were very encouraging”, says Francisco Santos, director of cell therapies at Crioestaminal.

“When injected into our body, the mesenchymal cells lower hyperinflammation because they react to that environment through the production of proteins, direct interactions with cells of the immune system”, he explains, adding that “this is already known from other diseases, from other clinical trials in which they had already been used in an experimental context for many years”.

According to Francisco Santos, with the use of this therapy “it was found that these cells were able to reverse the scenarios of hyperinflammation and many patients recovered”.