The Japanese pharmaceutical company Sumitomo Pharma has received authorization to produce and market Amchepry, an experimental treatment for Parkinson's disease based on stem cell transplantation into the brain. Japan has thus approved its first regenerative medicine products using iPS cells, which are capable of transforming into different cell types.
According to the Japanese press, the Ministry of Health has also approved ReHeart, developed by the startup Cuorips. This treatment involves applying sheets of cardiac muscle to the heart to promote the formation of new blood vessels and improve cardiac function. Both therapies could be available as early as this summer.
iPS cells, discovered by researcher Shinya Yamanaka, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012, allow for the reprogramming of adult cells into immature cells capable of differentiating. Health Minister Kenichiro Ueno hailed this as a promising development for patients.
Amchepry has received conditional and temporary approval based on data from a small clinical trial. Conducted at Kyoto University, the study involved seven Parkinson's patients, aged 50 to 69, who received implants of millions of dopaminergic neuron precursor cells. After two years of follow-up, no major adverse effects were observed, and four patients showed improvement.
Parkinson's disease, which affects approximately 10 million people worldwide, remains incurable; current treatments alleviate symptoms but do not halt the progression of the disease.
 Sophie de Duiéry
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07/03/2026 | 
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