Cell Therapy in the Times of SARS-CoV-2

An entire spectrum of disruptions, but also some lightning fast innovations, were brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This focused review looks at the pandemic from the vantage point of cellular therapy; specifically four aspects are considered: How do risks of cell therapy patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID differ from the general population? Do recipients of cellular therapies, here specifically recipients of autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants and CAR-T-cells, meaningfully respond to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines? What effects does the pandemic have on donor availability and cell therapy supply chains and hence, on the accessibility of cellular therapies? What cell therapies, if any, are therapeutically beneficial in severe COVID? Briefly, the excessive risk of an unfavorable, frequently lethal course of cell therapy patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed. The vaccine frequently, albeit not with the same regularity as in healthy vaccinees, induces presumably clinically meaningful humoral and/or cellular immunity. Creative solutions have quantitatively maintained access to cellular therapeutics. SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell products for adoptive immune transfer were developed, although an opportunity for their clinical evaluation did not arise. Clinical trials with mesenchymal stromal cells for severe COVID are being pursued world-wide; the question of efficacy currently remains unanswered, but initial data fuel considerable optimism of the scene. Some of the insights and innovations from the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic can possibly be generalized and may thus prevail.