Japan approves commercialization of 2 regenerative medicine products

​​​​​​​By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - Japan approved the commercialization of two regenerative medicine products on Thursday derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, according to Kyodo News.

The treatments will be used for patients with severe heart failure and Parkinson’s disease.

One of the products, ReHeart, was developed by Cuorips Inc., while the other, Amchepry, was developed by Sumitomo Pharma Co. and Racthera Inc.

The products are first of their kind in the world.

With ReHeart, heart muscle sheets derived from human iPS cells are placed on the surface of the heart, promoting new blood vessel formation and helping to restore heart function.

Induced pluripotent stem cells were first generated by Shinya Yamanaka, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012.

While with Amchepry, human iPS cells are grown into "dopaminergic neural progenitor cells" and injected into the patient's brain. Release of dopamine and motor function improvements were seen in clinical studies by Kyoto University.

Parkinson's disease is a condition that progressively damages parts of the nervous system, especially the brain. It is caused by a degeneration and loss of dopamine-producing brain cells and can lead to a decrease in motor function.