There are as yet no pre-clinical data investigating effects of MSC administration in models of coronavirus respiratory infection, mostly due to the lack of an established animal model. SARS-CoV-2 replication was observed in several non-human primates and in inbred strains of mice following intranasal infection, but these models failed to show clinical signs of pulmonary disease as seen in humans [44]. Mice transgenic for human ACE2, infected with SARS-CoV-2, demonstrated virus replication in the lungs, as well as interstitial pneumonia with lymphocyte and monocyte infiltration into the alveolar interstitium and accumulation of macrophages in alveolar spaces [45]. While this model requires further evaluation, it might facilitate the testing of therapeutics including cell-based therapies for COVID-19. Recently, a non-human primate model for SARS-CoV-2 was able to reflect the same clinical signs, viral replication and pathology observed in humans, with comparable levels of mortality, and might be a valuable model for further evaluation [46].