Overview
What is Future Medicine?
We are constantly adapting to changes in the medical environment, such as shifts in medical needs and innovations in science and technology, and position this as new medical care that should be realized in the next era.
Medicine is a never-ending cutting-edge theme in which new themes continue to emerge with an eye to the future, no matter what the era. We refer to this never-ending cutting-edge theme as "future medicine."
Furthermore, the new medical treatment that will be realized in the next era, "future medical treatment," is also about creating realistic solutions and creating a mechanism to implement them in society so that they can be delivered to the many patients who need them. We will accelerate the "industrialization" of future medical treatment by stimulating further exchanges and innovations between industry, government, academia, and medicine players. We will organically induce chemical reactions through an organic ecosystem that provides everything from raw material procurement to processes, construction of material supply chains, and human resource development in one stop.
We would like to connect with you and work together to make future medical care accessible and accessible.
In addition to promoting industrialization in order to implement future medical technology in society, we will encourage participation in this ecosystem and also work to increase medical literacy among the general public, including medical knowledge and how to approach medical care.
Pioneering the future with regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine is a technology that uses cultured cells and tissues to transplant and restore organs and tissues that have stopped functioning due to illness or injury. It has been drawing attention as a medical treatment that will open up the future of medicine, as it can cure diseases that were previously difficult to treat and help in drug development. We have compiled a list of the main regenerative medicine technologies that are evolving every day, by application area, from those that have progressed from research and development to the practical application stage.
- Cultivating mesenchymal stem cells from the patient's bone marrow fluid and administering them to patients with spinal cord injuries
- Neurons made from iPS cells injected into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients
- Treatment of subacute spinal cord injury using neural progenitor cells derived from iPS cells (allogeneic cells)
- Using iPS cells made from patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable disease that weakens muscles throughout the body, the disease's condition has been reproduced and a potential treatment has been discovered.
- Myoblast cells extracted from the patient's thigh muscle are cultured, formed into sheets, and transplanted into patients with severe heart failure.
- Cardiomyocyte sheets made from iPS cells will be transplanted into patients with severe heart failure
- Cardiomyocytes made from iPS cells are made into spherical masses (cardiomyocyte spheroids) and injected into the hearts of patients with severe heart failure.
- Cultivating mesenchymal stem cells from the patient's bone marrow fluid and administering them to patients with liver cirrhosis
- Mesenchymal stem cells extracted from other people's fat are cultured and administered to patients with liver cirrhosis
- ES cells are grown into liver cells and transplanted into babies with severe liver disease (urea cycle disorder).
- They have succeeded in creating a "mini-liver" from iPS cells, a small tissue with liver functions, and a "mini-intestine" with properties similar to those of the intestine. The mini-intestine is then transplanted into a patient with ulcerative colitis.
- A cell suspension containing cultured human corneal endothelial cells derived from donor corneal tissue was transplanted into the bullous keratopathy.
- Oral mucosal epithelial cells are extracted from the patient's mouth, cultured, and then formed into sheets that are then transplanted into patients with corneal epithelial stem cell deficiency.
- Corneal epithelial cells made from iPS cells will be formed into sheets and transplanted into patients with corneal damage (clinical trials in preparation)
- Retinal nerve cells made from iPS cells are made into sheets and transplanted into patients with retinitis pigmentosa, an incurable eye disease.
- Cell preparations derived from bone marrow from other people were administered to patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by worsening pneumonia.
- Mesenchymal stem cells extracted from other people's fat are cultured and injected into patients with pulmonary fibrosis.
- Mesenchymal stem cells extracted from the fat of others are cultured and administered to patients with IgA nephropathy, a designated intractable disease.
- iPS cells are transformed into kidney-forming cells to create a three-dimensional organ, which can then be transplanted into a patient with kidney failure.
- Epidermal cells extracted from the patient's normal skin are cultured, formed into sheets, and transplanted into patients with severe burns.
- Cartilage cells are extracted from the patient's knee joint, cultured with collagen, and transplanted into the damaged area of the knee joint.
- Cartilage cells made from iPS cells are made into sheets and transplanted into patients with knee joint cartilage damage
- Stem cells involved in blood vessel formation and bone formation extracted from the patient's own blood are transplanted into patients with intractable fractures whose bones do not heal after fracture.
- In the treatment of advanced or recurrent cervical cancer, immune cells contained in the patient's own cancer tissue are cultured and administered.
- Natural killer T cells (cancer-fighting immune cells) made from iPS cells are cultured and administered to head and neck cancer patients.
Created based on "Regeneration, Cellular Medicine, and Gene Therapy Research and Development 2023" by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)