Regarding J. Hewitt and TissUse, yes, it appears they are developing some kind of method to create lab-grown hair follicles. This is based on Dr. Lauster’s work, I believe, and his lab was one of the first working on this. They licensed their technology to J. Hewitt in Japan because, obviously Japan has the fast-track treatment for novel medical trials like this.
And with Japan’s fast track program it’s possible to get the treatment after successful phase 1 studies.
If only the US were that smart…
You’re right. It would be a lot easier on US customers if the US was that smart but if Japan keeps fast-tracking cellular therapies and Japan doesn’t see a jump in patient’s getting hurt by taking cell-based treatments too soon the US will eventually start doing the same thing. The US is going to get tired of seeing doctors in Japan making millions of dollars from US patients that US doctors could have made.
Keep in mind that the Japanese rush to get cell-based treatments to market is based on Japan’s belief that they’ve already seen sufficient evidence that ALL cell-based regenerative therapies are probably safe so may as well rush them to market after one study if everything looks good in that one study.
In any case, at least we can get it after one study somewhere. All you’ll have to do is make 2 trips to Asia - one trip to get the cells extracted and another trip to get them re-implanted after culture.
Doubt that the US would mimic japan’s fast track even if its more efficient than the fda’s. There are nations with even quicker fast track processes but are not as effective in safety.
The US plays it safe not just for safety concerns but because legal ramifications may be the harbinger of things to come if standards aren’t met.