Japan's health ministry has endorsed issuing conditional approval for two first-of-a kind medicines. But some researchers say that the therapies ' made from reprogrammed stem cells and called Amchepry and ReHeart ' are not yet ready for prime time. Amchepry, made by Sumitomo Pharma and Racthera, both in Tokyo, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, has been tested in seven people. ReHeart, made by Cuorips in Tokyo for severe heart failure, has been tested in eight people. But bigger trials are needed to ensure that these drugs are safe and effective, Knoepfler says. These hopes were given a boost in 2006, when Shinya Yamanaka and Kazutoshi Takahashi at Kyoto University unveiled a simple recipe1 for reprogramming mature cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. The technique provided a new source of cells that can be transformed into other cell types. Yamanaka shared a 2012 Nobel prize for his role in the work. Researchers at Sumitomo and Racthera used this approach to...
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