On Mar. 17, 2020, Israel’s Health Ministry announced that it had approved a request by Pluristem Therapeutics to seek case-by-case permission for compassionate treatment of COVID-19 patients with its stem cell therapy.

The proposed treatment included intra-muscular administration of the company’s PLX-PAD, which uses cells derived from the placenta, for severe pneumonia resulting from COVID-19 and preventing the deterioration of patients towards Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and sepsis.