Japan Bio Startup Seeks Approval of Heart Cell Sheets

   Tokyo, April 9 (Jiji Press)--A Tokyo-based biotechnology startup derived from the University of Osaka has applied for the health ministry's approval of production and sales of its heart cell sheets created from induced pluripotent stem cells.
   What is believed to be the first approval application for a regenerative medicine product in Japan was filed Monday by Cuorips Inc., where Yoshiki Sawa, specially appointed professor at the university, is serving as technology chief.
   In a world first, Sawa and colleagues transplanted in an ischemic cardiomyopathy patient 0.1-millimeter-thick, 4- to 5-centimerter-diameter sheets of heart cells made out of iPS cells generated from cells that were not the patient's in January 2020. The team had conducted similar operations on eight patients in total by March 2023 and confirmed the safety of the method and improvements in their symptoms.
   Describing Cuorips' move as "a giant step," Sawa vowed to "make efforts to save people in all corners of the world."

(2025/04/09-13:30)