Are Stem Cells the COVID-19 Treatment We've All Been Waiting For?

Medical professionals would surely welcome any safe and effective treatment option for people with COVID-19 -- and pharmaceutical companies are doing their best to hastily find solutions. Preclinical and clinical trials now under way are testing seemingly every plausible hypothesis, from failed Ebola drug candidates (antivirals) to approved arthritis drugs (anti-inflammatory drugs) to a moisturizer ingredient commonly found in hand lotions and shampoos (a long-shot vaccine adjuvant). 

Investors shouldn't be surprised that stem cell developers have thrown their hats into the ring, too. What might be more surprising are the promising results from one of the first studies testing stem cells against COVID-19. Shares of Australian biotech Mesoblast (NASDAQ: MESO) soared as much as 219% on the data, while small-cap peers Pluristem Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PSTI) and Athersys (NASDAQ: ATHX) both saw their stock prices jump by double digits. 

The broad group of drugs referred to as stem cell therapies have yet to live up to their lofty potential. Could they really be the COVID-19 treatment we've all been waiting for?

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Source Fool.com