COPD is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. It is clear that there is a significant unmet medical need for safe and effective therapies to treat moderate to severe COPD. This patient population has a high mortality rate and requires frequent hospitalizations due to disease-related exacerbations. Based on severity distribution estimates, approximately 70% of all current COPD patient have either moderate or severe COPD. COPD has no known cure, thus current therapeutic intervention is aimed at providing relief of symptoms. Oxygen therapy is the only treatment that has been shown to improve survival. Smoking cessation has been shown to slow the rate of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) decline and COPD progression. In general patient are treated with bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids, but again, these measures do not provide any significant benefit regarding disease progression or prognosis. The characteristics and biologic activity of Prochymal™, along with a good safety profile in human trials to date, suggest that Prochymal™ may be a good candidate for addressing this unmet medical need.
