Regenerative medicine research involving ES/iPS cells has advanced to the stage of clinical applications. However, many issues remain to be resolved, including the low establishment rates of high-quality iPS cells and unreliable induction into differentiated target cells and tissues for transplantation.

Conversely, safe and effective gene therapy faces many hurdles, such as ineffective tissue targeting, difficulty in repeated administration due to immune responses, and low production efficiency for gene transfer vectors.

Next-generation technologies are being developed separately in these two fields to address the different issues. A centralized hub to integrate and develop regenerative cellular medicine and gene therapy is essential for the future of medicine. This program will serve as that vital hub to bring cellular medicine and gene therapy together and facilitate their integration in Japan.

Background and Issues