Israel new drug for COVID-19: EXO-CD24 can reduce deaths by 50%

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Israel new drug for COVID-19: EXO-CD24 can reduce deaths by 50% and shorten the recovery period by 40%.  Control the condition within 5 days, true or false?

On August 5, an Israeli “Jerusalem Post” reported that “New Coronavirus: 90% of patients treated with Israeli new drugs were discharged within 5 days” [1] pointed out that a phase II trial of a new Israeli drug for COVID-19 found that 30 More than 90% of the patients recovered within 5 days.

This drug is called EXO-CD24.

Figure 1 The headline of the Jerusalem Post report on August 5

What is EXO-CD24?

The “EXO” in EXO-CD24 refers to exosomes, which are very small vesicles derived from cell membranes and are responsible for delivering drugs to where they are needed. The effective part that it needs to deliver is the molecule CD24. In other words, exosomes are a “vehicle” that transports CD24 to the lungs.

Figure 2 Exosomes (yellow circles in the picture) and other extracellular vesicles [2]

The full name of CD24 is cluster of differentiation 24. It is a small protein fixed on the cell membrane and plays an important role in regulating the immune system.

It is known that CD24 interacts with Siglec-10 on innate immune cells to inhibit destructive inflammation. In the anti-tumor preclinical research, CD24 targeted therapies including monoclonal antibodies, RNA interference targeted silencing and immunotherapy have shown bright prospects [3].

In February this year, an article published on the BER website “Breakthrough drugs may cure COVID-19 in 5 days” reported the application of CD24 in the treatment of COVID-19 [4].

Figure 3 BER’s report title

The report pointed out that researchers at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center (Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center) developed a COVID-19 therapy-EXO-CD24, and found that in most volunteers receiving the drug, the therapy can be used in COVID-19 is cured within 3-5 days.

EXO-CD24, as a drug delivered directly to the lungs, will help prevent complications caused by overreaction of the immune system.

This medicine is given by inhalation once a day for 5 minutes. In the phase I trial, 29 of the 30 moderate to severe new coronavirus infections recovered within 3-5 days, and all of them survived.

Figure 4 Inhalation administration

What mechanism does EXO-CD24 use to cure COVID-19?

EXO-CD24 is not an antiviral drug. Its mechanism to treat COVID-19 is to regulate the cytokine storm and bring the immune system back to balance.

After being infected with the new coronavirus, the body’s immune system will track the virus and try to eliminate it, which is why many people recover even without treatment.

However, the immune system is a “double-edged sword”, and the main reason for the clinical deterioration of patients with COVID-19 disease is also related to it-the immune system may be overactivated in high-risk groups, attacking healthy cells in the lungs, and leading to multiple organ failure. Even death, this is called “cytokine storm”.

It is through its specific mechanism that EXO-CD24 processes the cytokine storm and plays a role in the treatment of COVID-19. In addition, due to its precise delivery via exosomes, many side effects can be avoided.

Professor Nadir Arber of the Izirov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, who has been focusing on CD24 for decades, emphasized: “EXO-CD24 will not affect the entire immune system, but aims at this specific mechanism to help the immune system find balance again.”

Is EXO-CD24 reliable?

Not necessarily, but you can look forward to it.

Professor Arber said: “Although the current results are promising, no conclusions can be drawn until the placebo-controlled results are obtained.”

Professor Arber and his team are ready to start the final phase of the research. Approximately 155 COVID-19 patients will be included in this study. Two thirds of them took drugs and one third took placebos.

The study will be conducted in Israel, and if the number of Israeli patients is insufficient, it may also be conducted elsewhere. Professor Arber expressed his hope to complete this study before the end of the year.

It is worth mentioning that in September last year, Oncoimmune announced that its COVID-19 drug CD24Fc fusion protein had ended the registration of the SAC-COVID Phase III clinical trial (NCT04317040) and announced the results of the pre-planned mid-term efficacy analysis[5] .

Figure 5 Registration of the Phase III clinical trial of CD24Fc fusion protein (NCT04317040)

Interim results showed that patients receiving CD24Fc had a 60% higher chance of clinical recovery than patients receiving placebo (P=0.005). The median recovery time for patients receiving CD24Fc treatment was 6 days, compared with 10 days for the placebo group. In addition, the risk of death or respiratory failure has been reduced by more than 50%.

It can be seen that compared with the placebo group, patients with severe or critical COVID-19 treated with CD24Fc have a significantly faster recovery rate, and the probability of disease progression to death or respiratory failure has also decreased. Therefore, CD24Fc has become the world’s first major breakthrough in COVID-19 severe III. Period therapy.

The phased success of this “brother” drug may also add some confidence to the future of EXO-CD24.

In short, the mechanism of EXO-CD24 and the preliminary research results described in the press release support its ability to treat COVID-19, but there are currently no specific data releases or peer-reviewed papers released. Therefore, as to whether EXO-CD24 can become a veritable “magic drug”, we still need to wait and see the specific data released later and the results of its Phase III study.

(source:internet, reference only)

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