Fighting illness resulting from COVID-19 comes the startup, Third Pole Therapeutics. Third Pole is a US based startup which develops life-saving cardiopulmonary therapies. They are using their team’s legacy in inhaled nitric oxide (NO) to develop lung and heart therapies. Their product is a lightweight and simple device which generates NO from electricity and air on demand. Typical NO canisters do not have this capability and are often not used outside of acute care due to the impractical nature of heavy canisters, which require . One route we see COVID-19 taking is patient respiratory failure. NO has been used to treat respiratory failure, as it works to expand the lungs by opening airways and helps patients breathe better, in turn giving COVID-19 patients a fighting chance of recovery.

Testing is currently taking place at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, therefore if success is found, it could have huge implications for Third Pole’s product. Third Pole’s investigational device (currently limited by law for commercial use), could potentially help fight infection from coronavirus in underserved areas where access to medical facilities housing usual NO canisters is not possible. Additionally, the company has entered into a global license, development, and commercialization agreement with a research focused pharmaceutical company, Chiesi Group. The pharmaceutical company is located in Parma, Italy. Third Pole’s NO device will be used for treatment on babies with respiratory failure. This partnership puts Third Pole in an advantageous position regarding FDA submission and approval for Third Pole’s product.