• The treatment was given to 73 patients suffering with COVID-19 who then recovered

Arab News

LONDON: An aerosol treatment for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) developed by a team of doctors and researchers in the UAE had shown “promising” results, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Friday.

The treatment was given to 73 patients suffering with COVID-19 in the UAE and all of them went on to make a complete recovery.

The Emirati Ministry of Economy said on Friday it had granted a patent to the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Center (ADSCC) to develop the treatment further through the use of stem cells.

According to WAM, stem cells are extracted from the patient’s blood and then reintroduced in an “activated” state to the lungs through inhalation after being nebulized into a fine mist.

ADSCC researchers said the mist had a therapeutic effect, helping to regenerate lung cells and alter the response of the immune system to stop it from overreacting to the COVID-19 infection and causing more damage to healthy cells.

The treatment has undergone and successfully passed the first stage of clinical trials with further tests to demonstrate its effectiveness being carried out over the next two weeks.

The new treatment was provided to patients in conjunction with standard treatment protocols for COVID-19 and will continue to be used as an aid to these methods not as a substitute for them, the report added.

As of Friday, the UAE had 13,038 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 111 deaths and 2,543 recoveries.