2 June 2020 - - US-based biotechnology company AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) and US-based biopharmaceutical company ImStem biotechnology, Inc have signed a non-binding letter of intent for ImStem to obtain from AgeX a non-exclusive license to use AgeX's embryonic stem cell line ESI 053 to derive ImStem's investigational MSC product IMS001 for development in COVID-19 as well as acute respiratory distress syndrome due to other causes, the companies said.

AgeX and ImStem are co-operating to finalise financial terms and other provisions of a license agreement.

ImStem has previously used AgeX ESI 053 to derive the ImStem IMS001 product which is being investigated for multiple sclerosis under an IND. Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration cleared IMS001 to begin a Phase 1 clinical study in patients with multiple sclerosis, after a clinical hold on its Investigational New Drug application was removed. This is believed to be the first MSC product derived from human embryonic stem cells to be accepted for a clinical trial by the FDA.

AgeX and ImStem already have a commercial license in place, which grants ImStem rights to use AgeX's ESI 053 to derive IMS001 as a product candidate for development in autoimmune disease, including multiple sclerosis.

To date, in patients with pneumonia and ARDS due to COVID-19, preliminary literature suggests MSCs, such as ImStem's hES-MSC candidate IMS001, may warrant further development consideration.

An early clinical study conducted in China by an unrelated group with a different MSC product, "Transplantation of ACE2- Mesenchymal Stem Cells Improves the Outcome of Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia," and published in Aging and Disease (2020, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 216-228) showed that an intravenous infusion of a different MSC product appeared safe and improved functional outcomes in seven treated patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

MSCs are well recognized to be immunomodulatory in nature, possessing immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties.

Even before their application to COVID-19, MSCs were being investigated as a potential therapeutic option in ARDS, and emerging data in preclinical models has been encouraging.

ARDS remains an area of considerable unmet medical need, affecting around 200,000 patients annually in the US, accounting for 10% of all intensive care unit patients, and having a mortality of approximately 40%.

At the present time, no specific direct therapies exist for ARDS and only supportive treatment is available.

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging.

AgeX's PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a variety of diseases with a high unmet medical need.

AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes.

AgeX's revolutionary longevity platform induced Tissue Regeneration aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based formulation in preclinical development.

HyStem is AgeX's delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies in the body. AgeX's core product pipeline is intended to extend human healthspan.

AgeX is seeking opportunities to establish licensing and collaboration arrangements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms and therapy product candidates.

ImStem biotechnology, Inc. is aspiring to revolutionize how serious diseases with significant unmet needs are treated with a new generation of regenerative and cellular therapies.

Pioneering research by its current founder and chief technology officer Dr. Xiaofang Wang and Dr. Ren-He Xu, former director of UConn Stem Cell Institute, led to the proprietary pluripotent stem cell technology, enabling off-the-shelf, allogeneic stem cell-derived products to be manufactured in scale, differentiating itself from the typical challenges imposed by autologous adult cell therapy products.