Japan to launch personal iPS cell storage service
A regenerative medicine company based in Kyoto is set to begin offering a service that allows individuals to generate and store induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from their own blood for potential future medical use, Qazinform News Agency learnt from Kyodo.
Starting in April, iPS Portal Inc. will provide the service in collaboration with pharmaceutical experts, ensuring strict quality standards and monitoring. The initial cost of cell production and related processes is expected to range between 10 million and 20 million yen (63,000–126,000 US dollars).
The company aims to secure around 20 customers in its first year, with plans to expand and lower costs over time to make the service more widely accessible.
According to iPS Portal, treatments using a patient’s own iPS cells could help prevent immune rejection. However, challenges remain, particularly the absence of unified quality standards. To address this, the firm has established its own standards with pharmaceutical specialists and will manufacture and store cells for possible clinical applications.
Junya Toguchida, assistant director at Kyoto University’s Center for iPS Cell Research and Application and managing director of iPS Portal, emphasized: “It is essential to proceed in the right way while confirming the characteristics and safety of each individual’s cells.”
Induced pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into nearly any human cell type and proliferate indefinitely. They were first generated by Shinya Yamanaka, who announced mouse iPS cells in 2006 and human iPS cells in 2007, earning the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Noteworthy, scientists discover brain cells that clear Alzheimer’s proteins.
