A First in Human Trial Implanting Microalgae Shows Safety of Photosynthetic Therapy for the Effective Treatment of Full Thickness Skin Wounds.

Insufficient oxygen supply represents a relevant issue in several fields of human physiology and medicine. It has been suggested that the implantation of photosynthetic cells can provide oxygen to tissues in the absence of a vascular supply. This approach has been demonstrated to be successful in several in vitro and in vivo models; however, no data is available about their safety in human patients. Here, an early phase-1 clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03960164, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03960164) is presented to evaluate the safety and feasibility of implanting photosynthetic scaffolds for dermal regeneration in eight patients with full-thickness skin wounds. Overall, this trial shows that the presence of the photosynthetic microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii in the implanted scaffolds did not trigger any deleterious local or systemic immune responses in a 90 days follow-up, allowing full tissue regeneration in humans. The results presented here represent the first attempt to treat patients with photosynthetic cells, supporting the translation of photosynthetic therapies into clinics. Clinical Trial Registration: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03960164, identifier: NCT03960164.
Competing Interests: JTE is co-founder of SymbiOx Inc., a startup company that owns IP for the technology described here. During the conduct of the trial, MB, RC-O and FC were full-time employees of SymbiOx Inc., while AE-Z, XM and CW were part-time employees. All SymbiOx team members were financed with a R&D grant obtained from the Chilean Ministry of Economics (CORFO 18PIDE98887). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2021 Obaíd, Camacho, Brenet, Corrales-Orovio, Carvajal, Martorell, Werner, Simón, Varas, Calderón, Guzmán, Bono, San Martín, Eblen-Zajjur and Egaña.)