Aethlon Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEMD), a medical device technology company focused on unmet needs in global health, today announced the publication of a pre-print manuscript highlighting two case studies of critically ill COVID-19 patients treated with the Aethlon Hemopurifier®.
Both patients were given access to Hemopurifier® treatment through Emergency Use. The manuscript is titled “Removal of COVID-19 Spike Protein, Whole Virus, Exosomes and Exosomal microRNAs by the Hemopurifier® Lectin-Affinity Cartridge in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 Infection” and was published in Research Square.
The Hemopurifier® is a cartridge that is designed to filter viruses and exosomes from the blood. The manuscript describes the use of the Hemopurifier® for a total of nine sessions in two critically ill COVID-19 patients. Each of these two case studies is notable for unique reasons. The first is notable for the improvement in COVID-19 associated coagulopathy (CAC), lung injury, inflammation, and tissue injury despite the absence of demonstrable COVID-19 viremia (having demonstrated strong viremia earlier in the patient’s disease cycle), indicating that the removal of exosomes contributed to the patient’s recovery. This patient received eight Hemopurifier treatments without complications and eventually was weaned from a ventilator and was discharged from the hospital.
The second patient is notable for the first-ever demonstration of in vivo removal of SARS-CoV-2 virus from the blood stream of an infected patient. The patient completed a six hour Hemopurifier® treatment without complications and subsequently was placed on Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT). The patient ultimately expired three hours after being placed on CRRT because of the advanced stage of the disease.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world over, prompting the need for innovative treatment approaches. We believe that the Hemopurifier® is such an innovation, as it is the only known device that can filter out exosomes, which are thought to play a role in the severity of infectious diseases like COVID-19,” said Charles J. Fisher, Jr., CEO of Aethlon Medical and an author of the manuscript. “Given the success of the Hemopurifier® as a treatment for Ebola patients, we remain optimistic about our ongoing work in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. These two case studies indicate that the Hemopurifier® was successfully able to clear SARS-CoV-2 virus and associated exosomes from the bloodstream, resulting in a potential benefit for one of the critical COVID-19 patients that were treated.”
In addition to the two case studies, the safety and feasibility of the Aethlon Hemopurifier® is being evaluated in an active Early Feasibility Study, analogous to a Phase 1 clinical trial for a drug or biologic, that will enroll up to 40 COVID-19 ICU patients [NCT04595903]. The pre-print manuscript is being submitted to peer-reviewed journals, and Aethlon expects it to be published in the near future.