SEOUL, South Korea, Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Panacell Biotech Co., Ltd. said that NK cells, exosomes, and brown adipose-derived stem cells are effective to treat patients with long COVID conditions, or post COVID-19 conditions, as well as those with terminal illness.
Panacell Biotech is South Korea’s research institute specializing in advanced regenerative medical cell therapy using adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC).
The company announced on August 10 that it will soon conduct those cells’ toxicity tests through clinical trials and laboratory animals.
Currently, in South Korea, there are guidelines for plasma treatment that administers plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19 to other patients. Although there already exist COVID-19 treatments, such as Paxrovid, a clear therapeutic effect has not been confirmed yet.
There are over 60 long COVID conditions, including decreased libido and hair loss.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a nonprofit American academic medical center, “A whopping one in four people aged 65 or above suffer from aftereffects of COVID-19”
The Guardian also reported that people with long COVID often experience and an “extremely broad” variety of symptoms, including less well-known side effects such as amnesia, and an inability to perform familiar movements or commands.”
According to the TIME magazine said about four million people – or 2.4% of the U.S. employed population – have reduced ability to work because of Long COVID.
Associate Professor Gwenaëlle Douaud at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences (NDCN), University of Oxford, and her team observed a “greater reduction in grey matter thickness and tissue contract in the orbitofrontal cortex and parahippocampal gyrus” and “greater changes in markers of tissue damage in regions that are functionally connected to primary olfactory cortex.” While the long-term effects of COVID-19 on smell remain inconclusive, the study suggests a possible connection between brain changes by COVID-19 and memory.
However, there have been many clinical results in which the coronavirus causes inflammation in various organs, including the respiratory system, and chronic symptoms persist.
While research on a treatment for COVID-19 is underway around the world, Chinese researchers said they are researching ways to treat COVID-19 patients using stem cells.
Sun Yanrong, Deputy Director of China Biotechnology Development Center, asserted, “We are continuing to monitor the treatment using stem cells. In Wuhan, over 200 patients have already been treated with stem cells.”
He continued explaining, “The clinical treatment results show that the stem cell therapy has good safety and has also been confirmed to have a therapeutic effect. It was also effective in recovering the lungs.”
Seung-Ho Choi, CEO of Panacell Biotech, affirmed, “We expect that this clinical trial will reveal therapeutic effects of stem cell therapy along with these treatments.”
Panacell Biotech is a leading bio institute in advanced regenerative medicine and cell therapy, widely recognized for its contributions to the development of biotechnology by researching stem cell culture and cell banking, focusing on the development of treatments for various cancers and incurable diseases.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of South Korea approved Panacell Biotech on April 1 this year as one of the 21 licensed cell treatment facilities.
It received the K-ESG Management Innovation Award in June 2022, and is scheduled to receive the 2022 Global Clean Environment Award in the healthcare category in this upcoming October 18.