Japan approves the world’s first stem cell treatment for Parkinson’s

The company Sumitomo Pharma said it received the green light to manufacture and sell Amchepry, its therapy for Parkinson’s disease that involves transplanting stem cells into the patient’s brain.

Japan’s Health Ministry also authorized ReHeart, sheets of heart muscle developed by medical startup Cuorips that can help form new blood vessels and restore heart function, local media reported.

The treatments could hit the market and be made available to patients by the middle of this year, the media reported, citing the Ministry of Health.

This would make the Parkinson’s product the first commercially available medical product in the world that uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), which are created by genetically reprogramming already specialized adult cells to return to a youthful state.

iPS can transform into a variety of other different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.

Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for his research on iPS.

“I hope this will bring relief to patients not only in Japan, but around the world,” Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno said at a press conference.

In its statement, Sumitomo Pharma said it had obtained “conditional and time-limited approval” for the manufacturing and marketing of Amchepry.

A trial led by researchers at Kyoto University indicated that the company’s treatment was safe and effective in improving symptoms.

Seven Parkinson’s patients between 50 and 69 years old participated in the study, each of whom had a total of five or ten million cells implanted on both sides of the brain.

iPS cells from healthy donors developed into precursors to dopamine-producing brain cells, which are no longer present in people with Parkinson’s disease.

This chronic, degenerative neurological disorder affects the body’s motor system, often causing tremors and other movement difficulties.

According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, Around 10 million people suffer from this disease in the world.