Japan Approves the World's First Treatment Made With Reprogrammed Human Cells

"ReHeart addresses these unmet medical needs. The transplant is performed via a surgery in the left side of the chest, with three sheets of cardiomyocytes attached to the surface of the heart. Signaling proteins secreted by the transplanted cells help increase blood flow and repair tissue. In a national multicenter collaborative study that included eight patients with severe heart failure, a trend toward improvement was confirmed in four patients, with peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) increasing by more than 10 percent at 52 weeks post-transplant."

"Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes motor symptoms such as tremors in the limbs and muscle rigidity due to the gradual loss of dopaminergic nerve cells in the brain. Current drug therapies are treatments to alleviate symptoms, not a fundamental approach to replacing lost nerve cells. AmShepli aims to offer a new treatment option by transplanting progenitor cells from lost dopamine-making neurons directly into the brain."

ReHeart treats severe heart failure by transplanting cardiomyocytes onto the heart surface via left chest surgery. These cells secrete signaling proteins that increase blood flow and repair tissue. A multicenter study of eight patients showed improvement trends in four patients, with peak oxygen consumption increasing over 10 percent at 52 weeks. Amusepri treats Parkinson's disease by transplanting dopamine-producing neuron precursor cells derived from iPS cells directly into the brain through minimally invasive surgery. Unlike current drug therapies that only alleviate symptoms, these cell transplants address the fundamental problem of lost nerve cells, offering new treatment options for patients with inadequate responses to existing medications.

Read at WIRED