{{Short description|Stem cell therapy}} '''Prochymal''' is a stem cell therapy made by Osiris Therapeutics. It is the first stem cell therapy approved by Canada. It is also the first therapy approved by Canada for acute graft-vs-host disease (GvHD).<ref name=mnt>{{cite news |url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245704.php |title=Prochymal - First Stem Cell Drug Approved |date=22 May 2012 }}</ref> Also known as remestemcel-L, Prochymal was sold to Australia-based Mesoblast in 2013<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Waltz|first=Emily|date=2013-12-01|title=Mesoblast acquires Osiris' stem cell business|journal=Nature Biotechnology|language=en|volume=31|issue=12|pages=1061|doi=10.1038/nbt1213-1061|s2cid=32036070|issn=1546-1696|doi-access=free}}</ref> at which time its brand name was changed to Ryoncil.
It is an allogeneic stem therapy based on mesenchymal stem cells (also medicinal signalling cells, mesenchymal stromal cells, and MSCs<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Caplan|first=Arnold I.|date=2017-04-28|title=Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Time to Change the Name!|journal=Stem Cells Translational Medicine|volume=6|issue=6|pages=1445–1451|doi=10.1002/sctm.17-0051|issn=2157-6564|pmc=5689741|pmid=28452204}}</ref>) derived from the bone marrow of adult donors. MSCs are purified from the marrow, cultured and packaged, with up to 10,000 doses derived from a single donor. The doses are stored frozen until needed.<ref name=NYT2012>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/health/a-stem-cell-based-drug-gets-approval-in-canada.html |title=A Stem-Cell-Based Drug Gets Approval in Canada |date=17 May 2012 }}</ref>
== Approvals and indications== In May 2012 Health Canada approved the use of remestemcel-L (Prochymal) for the management of acute GvHD in children who are unresponsive to steroids, with the approval conditional upon further trials being conducted.<ref name="mnt" /><ref>Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. Form S-1 Registration Statement under the Securities Act of 1933. May 12, 2020.</ref>
Separately, a pilot study of Ryoncil on ventilator-assisted COVID-19 patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome provided sufficient evidence for the FDA to approve a Phase 2/3 placebo-controlled trial on 300 patients. That trial commenced enrollment on May 5, 2020. It is being overseen by Mount Sinai Hospital and the Cardiothoracic Clinical Trials Network and funded by the National Institutes of Health.<ref>Sheikh, Knvul and Thomas, Katie. More Coronavirus Vaccines and Treatments Head Toward Human Trials. April 8, 2020, May 2, 2020</ref>
==Clinical trials== Preliminary results of a phase III trial for GvHD were released in Sept 2009.<ref name=OT2009>{{cite web |url=http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/osiris-therapeutics-announces-preliminary-results-prochymal-phase-iii-gvhd-trials |title=Osiris Therapeutics Announces Preliminary Results for Prochymal Phase III GvHD Trials |date=8 Sep 2009 }}</ref>
==See also== * Cell therapy
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Biotechnology Category:Stem cells
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