THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
April 9, 2025 at 16:33 JST
A startup has applied for approval to manufacture and sell sheets of human heart muscles generated from iPS cells that can be transplanted into patients with severe heart failure.
The application was announced on April 8 by Cuorips Inc., a company that uses technology developed by Osaka University.
If approved, the regenerative medical product will become the world’s first medical treatment using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which can be grown into many different cell types.
Researchers at the university and other institutions developed a method to treat patients with ischemic heart disease by transplanting cardiomyocyte sheets generated from human iPS cells.
Ischemic heart disease is caused by narrowed coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle.
The research team has conducted investigator-initiated clinical trials at the University of Osaka Hospital and elsewhere since 2020, transplanting cardiomyocyte sheets to eight patients.
Yoshiki Sawa, a specially appointed professor at Osaka University who is leading the research, said the trials have confirmed the safety of transplanted cells.
“About 20 years after iPS cells were developed, we have made a major step in delivering (the achievements of the technology) to patients,” Sawa said. “We want to save the lives of many people by spreading the new treatment worldwide.”
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