Wize Pharma, Inc. (OTCQB: WIZP), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of ophthalmic disorders, today announced that Bonus BioGroup (TASE: BONS.TA), a company in which Wize owns an 8.9% equity stake, will present its scientific findings for MesenCure in the treatment of life-threatening acute respiratory distress in COVID-19 and pneumonia patients at the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy's  (ISCT) annual meeting. ISCT Virtual Paris 2020 will be held on May 28-29, 2020 via video broadcast, with 1,800 scientists, physicians, and public opinion leaders from around the world attending.

According to Bonus Bio Group, MesenCure is specifically developed for the treatment of respiratory tract inflammations due to COVID-19, other viruses, bacterial infections, or exposure to other contaminants, that together represent a global market of over $43 billion annually.

At ISCT, Bonus will present findings from a recent preclinical study conducted on an animal model suffering from severe respiratory distress symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 patients. Treatment with MesenCure reduced fluid in the lungs by 47% compared to untreated subjects, and significantly increased blood lymphocyte counts, which play a key role in fighting viruses. According to Bonus BioGroup, these results indicate the ability of MesenCure to relieve acute pneumonia and to alleviate life-threatening lymphopenia in COVID-19 patients.

"At the ISCT conference, Bonus BioGroup will present its findings to the world's cell therapy industry and academic leaders. The data on MesenCure's effect on lung function in a preclinical model is compelling and we are pleased Bonus BioGroup can share their findings with key opinion leaders in the field," stated Noam Danenberg נועם דננברג , CEO of   Wize.

About Bonus BioGroup

Bonus BioGroup is an Israeli biotechnology company whose highly innovative, proprietary therapeutic platform for healing severe bone defects is strongly positioned to break into the $8 billion global bone rehabilitation market. The company's BonoFill™ solution which employs novel tissue engineering technology for growing live human bone grafts has been selected by the Israeli Ministry of Science as a technology that will change the world forever, and it is already achieving outstanding success rates in Phase I/II clinical trials.  The BonoFill™ solution is a revolutionary approach for personalized treatment of bone defects using live bone grafts created from the patient's own cells. Patients undergo a simple liposuction procedure to harvest fat tissue, which is then engineered into bone using Bonus' proprietary technology. Upon injection into the bone defect, the bone graft grows, connects and matures to become healthy new autologous bone, while reducing the risk of rejection.

About Wize Pharma

Wize Pharma, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company currently focused on the treatment of ophthalmic disorders, including DES. Wize has in-licensed certain rights to purchase, market, sell and distribute a formula known as LO2A, a drug developed for the treatment of DES, and other ophthalmological illnesses, including CCh and Sjögren's syndrome (Sjögren's).

LO2A is currently registered and marketed by its inventor in Germany and Switzerland for the treatment of DES, in Hungary for the treatment of DES, CCh and Sjögren's and in the Netherlands for the treatment of DES and Sjögren's. Wize's strategy involves engaging local or multinational distributors to handle the distribution of LO2A. In November 2018, Wize completed a Phase II randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of LO2A for patients with CCh, which demonstrated a statistical significance result, using a mixed model with repeated measures (MMRM). Wize is currently conducting a Phase IV study for LO2A for DES in patients with Sjögren's, expected to publish results in third fiscal quarter of 2020.