Therapeutics startup Celularity announced Thursday morning that it has received FDA clearance to begin a clinical trial of a proposed stem-cell treatment for COVID-19. The approval of the New Jersey-based company’s IND application enables the company to begin a clinical trial with patients who have the disease.
The company’s therapy, called CYNK-001 for now, uses “Natural Killer” (NK) cells, a form of white blood cells that wage war against cancer and viral infection, derived from placental stem cells. The company’s been developing similar treatments for several years against cancer and Crohn’s disease, several of which are being tested as well.