Pandemic Highlights Opportunities, Challenges for Exosomes and Related Cell Therapies

From BioSpace by Mark Zipkin

New therapeutic modalities always face an uphill climb, but the urgency of COVID-19 may have opened the door for two related ones: cell therapies and exosomes.

The pandemic has been an all-hands-on-deck call for the biotech industry, with new approaches quickly reaching patients through compassionate use cases and emergency use regulatory authorizations.

“As we saw the wave coming, everyone started putting all of the arsenal towards treatment,” said Dalip Sethi, director of scientific affairs at Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies.

This included established fields like antibodies, and new technologies like mRNA vaccines similarly proved their salt.