A health ministry panel has given conditional approval to two medical products derived from iPS cells, paving the way for the world¡¯s first commercialization of Nobel Prize-winning stem cell research.
But Thursday¡¯s endorsement of the products ¡ª neurons for Parkinson¡¯s disease and muscle patches for severe heart disease ¡ª was based on small-scale clinical studies that confirmed only their safety and ¡°presumed¡± their efficacy.
The manufacturers must conduct postmarket clinical trials to see if they actually work. If the efficacy is not fully proven, the ministry will withdraw approval within seven years.
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