Today, the Rostock-based biotechnology company ARTCLINE announced the start of a randomized clinical multi-center trial regarding the extracorporeal immune cell therapy ARTICE®. A convertible loan of approx. EUR 4 million was issued for financing, which was primarily subscribed by the current shareholders.
During ARTICE® therapy, patients with septic shock are treated with an extracorporeal blood cleansing method somehow similar to dialysis. Immune cells of healthy blood donors are used, which have been purified by a method developed and patented by ARTCLINE. The aim of the ARTICE® therapy is to reactivate the immune function of sepsis patients.
Sepsis and septic shock are the main causes of death in intensive care units. The impairment of the immune system plays a significant role in sepsis. Despite intensive therapy research in recent decades, sepsis continues to be a largely unsolved problem. In Germany alone, about 70,000 patients die of sepsis every year.
The clinical study will include 120 patients at 4 German centers in order to gain insights into the safety and clinical benefits of this new therapy. In addition to these clinical parameters, a large number of cellular and plasmatic immune parameters are also collected in order to better understand the causes and course of immune failure in sepsis in the future.
“The start of the clinical trial is a further milestone in the establishment of our ARTICE® therapy in the treatment of sepsis patients,” said Dr. Jens Altrichter, CEO of ARTCLINE, which was founded in 2007 as a spin-off of the University Medical Center Rostock. “With the successful and rapid placement of the convertible loan among the previous shareholders and some selected new investors, the investors’ trust in ARTCLINE has been impressively confirmed.”
“We are pleased to offer this new immune cell therapy developed in Rostock to our patients as part of the study,” explained the principal investigator of the clinical trial Prof. Dr. Daniel Reuter from the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care at the University Medical Center Rostock.
About the company
ARTCLINE GmbH, founded in Rostock in 2007, develops innovative therapy procedures for intensive care medicine. Current focus is the development of immune cell-based therapies for the treatment of severe bacterial and viral infections.
The planning and preparation of the clinical trial was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
In case of general questions or news-related questions: info@artcline.de