ARDS has been identified as the leading cause of COVID-19-related fatalities; in preclinical studies, Orbsen Therapeutics’ proprietary ORBCEL cellular therapy demonstrated the ability to mitigate the effects of ARDS by improving lung oxygenation, lessening inflammation, reducing edema and decreasing bacterial infection
LOS ANGELES, April 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via NetworkWire – Addressing the finding that most fatalities from COVID-19 are caused by the nonreversible development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), Multiverse Investment Fund I, LP, a private venture capital fund dedicated to long-term capital investment in companies offering significant social impact, today announces that one of its 12 portfolio companies, Orbsen Therapeutics, has been awarded a special dispensation by the government of England to initiate clinical trials of its proprietary cellular therapy, ORBCEL, to treat ARDS patients diagnosed with COVID-19.
Jack Kavanaugh, a general manager of Multiverse Investment Fund and chairman of Orbsen Therapeutics, stated, “We are incredibly proud of Orbsen’s achievements and the team’s involvement in working to expedite solutions to help prevent deaths from COVID-19.”
In applying ORBCEL’s proprietary cellular therapy, Orbsen is striving to treat ARDS by intercepting and preventing the damage caused by the body’s immune reaction to an infection – in this case, COVID-19. ARDS is a response in the body to the sepsis and infection that occur in the lungs as a result of COVID-19, causing damage to the walls of the air sacs in the lungs. To date, there has been no successful treatment for ARDS. Nearly 90 percent of deaths caused by COVID-19 are the result of ARDS.
Orbsen’s ORBCEL recently completed a successful Phase 1 trial in patients with moderate to severe ARDS. In preclinical studies, ORBCEL, a next-generation stromal cell immunotherapy, demonstrated the ability to mitigate the devastating effects of ARDS by improving lung oxygenation, lessening inflammation, reducing edema and decreasing bacterial infection.
“We believe ORBCEL will prove a valuable addition to the arsenal of therapies to combat the effects of COVID-19,” said Dr. Larry Couture, CEO of Orbsen Therapeutics.
The upcoming Phase 2a clinical trial, funded by the Wellcome Trust, has been approved by the United Kingdom’s Medical Health Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The UK’s National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) has also designated the trial as a National Urgent Public Health Study.
“While more than 100 vaccines and therapies targeting COVID-19 are in development, there are no disease-modifying therapies approved for ARDS,” said Dr. Steve Elliman, chief scientific officer at Orbsen. “We take seriously NIHR’s designation of this trial as an Urgent Public Health Research Study and believe ORBCEL has the potential to be a timely and effective treatment for patients with ARDS.”
As the founder, chairman and CEO of ZetaRx Biosciences, which later became the core of Juno Therapeutics, Dr. Jack Kavanaugh is a pioneer in bringing advanced cellular therapies to market. He is credited with successfully combining the intellectual property from globally recognized health care and research institutions, assembling a highly respected management team, and leading the development of the FDA clinical trial strategy – resulting in immunotherapies that have shown great promise in terminal cancer remission, and actually reported the best results ever in the treatment of terminal cancer. Juno Therapeutics was purchased in 2018 by Cellgene for enterprise value of $10.1 Billion.
About Multiverse Investment Fund I, LP
Multiverse Investment Fund I, LP (“Multiverse,” or the “Fund”) is a private venture capital fund that invests in early-, developmental- and clinical-stage companies in the life science, materials science and technology sectors. Multiverse’s mission is to achieve long-term capital appreciation through investments in profound opportunities and, as a general proposition, in companies building products with the potential to produce a positive and significant social impact. For more information, please visit the Multiverse website at https://www.multiverseinvestmentfund.com/.
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