AlloStim is an off-the-shelf, non-genetically manipulated, patented living immune cell with multiple immunomodulatory properties, according to the release. The new trial is designed specifically for elderly patients. 

Elderly patients are at particularly high risk of viral infections including pneumonia, which is the most common cause of death from infectious disease in elderly patients. 

The COVID-19 pandemic puts elderly patients at greater risk of hospitalization and death, even more so than in the past, the release noted.

“If we can protect the elderly from COVID-19, economies can open safely, and herd immunity can be allowed to develop without an alarming increase in death rate,” said Michael Har-Noy, MD, PhD, founder and CEO of Immunovative Therapies, in the release. “Even if a COVID-19 vaccine is developed, it is likely, as with influenza vaccines, that it will be less effective in the elderly where protection is most needed.”