Full sponsorship of the phase II trial of UC-MS infusions to treat severe lung damage in COVID-19 ARDS has been successfully transferred to a corporate entity which will soon begin a large randomized double-blind multi-site trial.
The initial research for the FDA-authorized phase I/IIb trials, designed by Dr. Camillo Ricordi and his team at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, proved an infusion of umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells improved patient survival and decreased time to recover in severe cases of COVID-19.
Dr. Ricordi is Director of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) and Cell Transplant Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. With the handoff, his team at the DRI can now continue his years-long work with UC-MSCs which preceded COVID-19, in the treatment of diabetes and other diseases.
The Cure Alliance was proud to provide the initial seed support which was then supplement3ed by generous donors including North America’s Building Trade Unions (NABTU). Thanks to their support, Dr. RIcordi was able to successfully complete the initial research which was published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1002/sctm.20-0472.
At the start of the Phase I/IIa trial, Shelley Ross, the Cure Alliance president, published a photo art book documenting life in lockdown with our our dogs. Scruffy: Our Pandemic Pooches and the Good, the Bad and the Crazy Haircuts We Gave Them, earmarked all profits for the research. The book hit #1 on Amazon’s best seller list which led to appearances on ABC’s Good Morning America, WABC NY, national podcasts and social media.
With New sponsorship in place, future profits from “The Scruffy Project” will be channeled directly to other underfunded research chosen by The Cure Alliance, a 501( c)(3)non-profit organizational global research scientists, medical doctors, and those who support our goal to end human suffering by helping advance the cures of chronic, disabling and fatal diseases.