Novartis Puts Down $50m For Mesoblast COVID-19 Cell Therapy

Reversal Of Fortunes For Remestemcel-L

The Australian company's off-the-shelf cell therapy fell foul of the US FDA for graft-versus-host disease recently but Novartis is backing remestemcel-L as a potential treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Rescue
Novartis comes to Mesoblast's rescue • Source: Shutterstock

Just a couple of months after Mesoblast Limited's remestemcel-L got rejected by US regulators, the NASDAQ-listed Australian biotech has bagged Novartis AG as a partner for the allogeneic cell therapy as a treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), including that associated with COVID-19.

The Swiss major is making a $25m upfront payment and investing another $25m in Mesoblast equity to acquire the worldwide...

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