Aethlon Medical to Present New Pre-Clinical Data at the Keystone Symposium on Long COVID and Other Post-Acute Infection Syndromes

Rhea-AI Summary

Aethlon Medical (NASDAQ: AEMD) announced its upcoming presentation of new pre-clinical data at the Keystone Symposium on Long COVID in August 2025. The presentation will focus on their Hemopurifier® device's ability to bind extracellular vesicles (EVs) in Long COVID samples. The study, conducted in collaboration with UC San Francisco Medical Center, examines how EVs from Long COVID patients bind to the device's proprietary affinity resin containing Galanthus nivalis agglutinin. Long COVID affects 44-48 million Americans with a $2 billion economic burden for year-long cases. The Hemopurifier® is designed to remove harmful EVs from blood and has previously shown success in treating severe acute COVID-19. The poster presentation (Number 2001) will be delivered by CMO Steven P. LaRosa on August 12, 2025.

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Biomedical Research Scientist

Aethlon's data showing their Hemopurifier can bind Long COVID-related vesicles demonstrates potential application in a large untreated market.

Aethlon Medical's upcoming poster presentation reveals important pre-clinical findings on their Hemopurifier device's potential application for Long COVID - a condition affecting an estimated 44-48 million Americans with a $2 billion economic burden. The data specifically examines the device's ability to bind extracellular vesicles (EVs) from Long COVID patients through its proprietary Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) lectin-based affinity resin.

The scientific significance lies in the targeted mechanism: these nano-sized EVs (50-500nm) have been implicated in Long COVID pathogenesis, containing viral particles and compounds associated with abnormal clotting and inflammation. The company's collaboration with UCSF's Long COVID clinic compared plasma samples from Long COVID patients against recovered COVID controls to determine if Long COVID-associated EVs express the specific mannose sugar targets that would enable binding to the Hemopurifier.

What makes this particularly notable is that despite over $1 billion in research funding, no effective Long COVID treatments have emerged. Aethlon's approach builds on their previous observation of EV removal in an acute COVID patient. If successful, this extracorporeal (outside-the-body) filtration approach would represent a novel treatment modality for Long COVID. The scientific community will be watching closely for the binding efficacy data between both larger and smaller EVs to the device's GNA lectin resin, as positive results could position Aethlon's technology as a potential intervention in this significant unmet medical need.

Poster Presentation Reviews the Hemopurifier® Affinity Resin's Ability to Bind Extracellular Vesicles in Long COVID Samples

SAN DIEGO, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Aethlon Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: AEMD), a medical therapeutic company focused on developing products to treat cancer and life-threatening infectious diseases, today announced that an abstract has been accepted for poster presentation at the Keystone Symposium on Long COVID and Other Post-Acute Infection Syndromes being held at Eldorado Hotel & Spa, Santa Fe, NM, United States, August 10-13,2025 (https://www.keystonesymposia.org/conferences/conference-listing/meeting/program-highlights/F12026).

Long COVID refers to persistent symptoms following acute SARs-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19). These symptoms - including fatigue, post-exertional malaise, shortness of breath, chest pain and cognitive difficulties such as "brain fog" - may last for weeks or months after the initial illness. Long COVID is estimated to affect between 44 and 48 million people in the United States alone with a projected economic burden of $2 billion for those with symptoms lasting a year. Despite over $1 billion allocated to Long COVID research funding, no treatment has proven effective.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), nanoparticles 50-500nm in diameter, released from all cell types and involved in cell-to-cell communication, have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Long COVID.  EVs have been found to contain viral particles and other cargo associated with abnormal blood clotting and inflammation.

Aethlon Medical's Hemopurifier® is an investigational extracorporeal device designed to bind and remove harmful EVs from the blood through a combination of plasma separation, size exclusion and binding to a proprietary affinity resin containing the plant lectin Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA), previously found to bind to the sugar mannose.

The Hemopurifier has previously been shown to remove EVs in a patient with severe acute COVID-19 infection. Aethlon Medical collaborated with the University of California San Francisco Medical Center Long COVID clinic to evaluate plasma samples from participants with Long COVID and control participants who had fully recovered  from COVID-19 in order to examine whether  individuals with Long COVID would have EVs with the mannose target on their surface that would bind to the affinity resin in the device. The data to be presented will review the binding of both larger and smaller EVs to GNA lectin and the lectin-based affinity resin, respectively.

Presentation details and times are as follows:

Title: Extracellular Vesicles from Participants with Long COVID are Mannosylated and Bind to the Galanthus Nivalis Agglutinin Resin in the Aethlon Hemopurifier® 

Authors: Miguel Pesqueira¹, Rosalia de Necochea Campion¹, Thomas Dalhuisen², Emily A. Fehrman², Jeffrey N. Martin², Timothy J. Henrich², Steven G. Deeks², Michael J. Peluso², Steven P. LaRosa¹

1. Aethlon Medical Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
2. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

Presenter: Steven P. LaRosa, M.D, Chief Medical Officer, Aethlon Medical, Inc.
Poster Number: 2001
Date and Time: August 12, 2025, 1930, MDT.

This poster will be available following the meeting on the Aethlon Medical, Inc. corporate website at https://www.aethlonmedical.com/.

About Aethlon and the Hemopurifier®

Aethlon Medical is a medical therapeutic company focused on developing the Hemopurifier, a clinical stage immunotherapeutic device which is designed to combat cancer and life-threatening viral infections and for use in organ transplantation. In human studies, the Hemopurifier has demonstrated the removal of life-threatening viruses and in pre-clinical studies, the Hemopurifier has demonstrated the removal of harmful EVs from biological fluids, utilizing its proprietary lectin-based technology. This action has potential applications in cancer, where EVs may promote immune suppression and metastasis, and in life-threatening infectious diseases. The Hemopurifier is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated Breakthrough Device indicated for the treatment of individuals with advanced or metastatic cancer who are either unresponsive to or intolerant of standard of care therapy, and with cancer types in which EVs have been shown to participate in the development or severity of the disease. The Hemopurifier also holds an FDA Breakthrough Device designation, and an open Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application related to the treatment of life-threatening viruses that are not addressed with approved therapies.

Additional information can be found at www.AethlonMedical.com.

Company Contact:
Jim Frakes
Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
Aethlon Medical, Inc.
Jfrakes@aethlonmedical.com

Investor Contact:
Susan Noonan
S.A. Noonan Communications, LLC
susan@sanoonan.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aethlon-medical-to-present-new-pre-clinical-data-at-the-keystone-symposium-on-long-covid-and-other-post-acute-infection-syndromes-302475948.html

SOURCE Aethlon Medical, Inc.

FAQ

What will Aethlon Medical (AEMD) present at the Keystone Symposium 2025?

Aethlon Medical will present pre-clinical data about their Hemopurifier® device's ability to bind extracellular vesicles in Long COVID samples through a poster presentation on August 12, 2025.

How does Aethlon Medical's Hemopurifier® device work for Long COVID?

The Hemopurifier® is an extracorporeal device that binds and removes harmful extracellular vesicles from blood through plasma separation, size exclusion, and binding to a proprietary affinity resin containing Galanthus nivalis agglutinin.

What is the economic impact of Long COVID according to AEMD's presentation?

Long COVID affects between 44-48 million people in the United States, with a projected economic burden of $2 billion for those with symptoms lasting a year.

Who is collaborating with Aethlon Medical on the Long COVID research?

Aethlon Medical is collaborating with the University of California San Francisco Medical Center Long COVID clinic to evaluate plasma samples from Long COVID participants and control participants.