Citius Pharmaceuticals Inc. (CTXR) said that it signed an exclusive six-month option agreement to in-license a stem-cell therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome or ARDS from a subsidiary of Novellus Inc.
In Wednesday pre-market trade, CTXR is trading at $0.82, up $0.22 or 36.64 percent.
Novellus's patented process uses its exclusive non-immunogenic synthetic messenger ribonucleic acid or mRNA molecules to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) that, in turn, generate mesenchymal stem cells or MSCs with superior immunomodulatory properties.
mesenchymal stem cells prevent and suppress cytokine storm believed to be the cause of the severe inflammation of ARDS and now seen in COVID-19 patients.