Following the announcement that SeaStar Medical will initiate a pilot study of aselective cytopheretic device (SCD) in COVID-19 patients;

Azadeh Laffafian, Medical Device Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“SeaStar’s SCD targets proinflammatory neutrophils and monocytes during continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) to combat cytokine storm in severely ill patients. It has been suggested that cytokine storms may be the cause of multiple organ failures observed in some COVID-19 patients. Cytokine storms occur when the patient’s immune system initiates an exaggerated response, which can become fatal. 

“SeaStar received investigational device exemption (IDE) supplement approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with a pilot study to examine the safety and efficacy of SCD in mitigating kidney injury. The study will centre on COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and acute kidney injury (AKI). SeaStar expects to release results later this year.   

“According to reports, many hospitalized COVID-19 patients experience acute kidney injury. This has led to a surge in demand for dialysis equipment. CRRT machines are especially needed and at risk for shortages. Other dialysis supplies, in addition to dialysis support staff are also in high demand. According to SeaStar, this device may help reverse and repair kidney injury, thereby reducing the patient’s need for CRRT.”