Controversial New Stem Cell Therapy Targets Spinal-Cord Injuries

For the first time ever, patients with spinal-cord injuries will have access to stem-cell treatments, thanks to a controversial new therapy being offered in Japan starting this month.

Stemirac, developed by Nipro Corp. and Sapporo Medical University, aims to solve one of the most difficult quandaries in medicine: letting paraplegics and quadriplegics move again. The treatment, which costs about 15 million yen ($135,000), will be available for as many as 100 patients a year under a sped-up process that aims to get more drugs onto the market without rigorous clinical testing. Initial trials have already shown some success.

Nipro’s Regenerative Medicine R&D Center in Sapparo.

Source: Nipro Corp.

Nipro ...