Remestemcel-L, the first cellular therapy product for the treatment of graft-versus-host disease

Acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a cause of substantial morbidity and mortality following allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Complete responses to steroid-based front-line treatment occur in 25-40% of patients, and results of second-line treatment are unsatisfactory. This review examines the biological effects of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in relation to GVHD and describes the clinical results of GVHD treatment with cultured MSCs and the proprietary cryopreserved MSCs known as remestemcel-L.