Nipro, an Osaka, Japan, based company, is seeking approval from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for a stem cell cure for spinal injuries which the company hopes to launch in 2018. Since 2014 Nipro has carried out joint research with Sapporo Medical University.
Stem Cell Cure for Spinal Injuries Sought
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The company has been successful in trials where stem cells, harvested from bone marrow, were cultivated and returned to the body where they concentrated on injured areas of the spinal cord and related tissues. Nipro plans to register the treatment as a regenerative medicine product.
Nipro has yet to find ways to make the treatment widely available. The company reports that, using present techniques, it can grow stem cells for only about 100 people a year. In Japan alone, about 200,000 people suffer from spinal cord injuries. That number grows by around 5,000 annually.
Nipro is also looking into whether the treatment can be applied to diseases of the brain. A clinical study that is now underway deals with stroke patients.
The company was founded in 1954 and is a leading global healthcare company dedicated to developing and delivering innovative and patient-oriented products for healthcare professionals, patients and pharmaceutical industry. The company’s 13,000 employees, based throughout the globe, are committed to positive patient outcomes and improvement in the quality of life around the world.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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