Japan Panel Backs Crucial Stem Cell Therapies for Approval

A Japanese health ministry panel has endorsed conditional approvals for regenerative therapies, including Sumitomo Pharma Co.’s stem cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease and Cuorips Inc.’s heart failure therapy, both built on technology pioneered by a Nobel Prize laureate.

The companies have been granted a seven-year clearance and they must continue collecting additional data during the approval period, the ministry said in a statement.