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Regulations for regenerative medicine for human use, such as cell and gene therapy (CGT), have evolved in accordance with advancements in clinical experience, scientific knowledge, and social acceptance of these technologies. In November 2014, two acts, "The Act on the Safety of Regenerative Medicine" (ASRM) and the "Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, and Other Therapeutic Products Act" (PMD Act), came into effect in Japan. The responsibilities of medical institutions in ensuring the safety and transparency of such medical technologies are described under ASRM. The PMD Act provides the option of a new scheme for obtaining conditional and time-limited approval for CGT products. Overall, research and development on CGT products, especially gene therapy products, is progressing. New legislative frameworks have been designed to promote the timely development of new technologies and safe and effective CGT products for Japanese patients., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Cellular therapies have moved to the forefront based upon promising results from clinical trials using both chimeric antigen receptor T lymphocytes to treat leukemia and other cell types to restore structure and function to tissues that have been damaged by disease or physical injury. The pace at which these treatments have evolved has posed a regulatory challenge to agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This chapter describes how a specific regulatory strategy was developed and how it has evolved in response to the demand for these new therapies.

Significant advances have been made in the field of ocular regenerative medicine. Promising stem cell-based therapeutic strategies have been translated into the clinical practice over the last few decades. These new stem cell-based therapies offer the possibility of permanently restoring corneal epithelium in patients with severe disabling and blinding ocular surface disease. The European Union has already classified stem cell-based therapies as "medicinal products". Therefore, manipulation is strictly regulated according to the defined conditions of good manufacturing practice, with the production of stem cell therapeutics at only accredited production sites authorized by the national regulatory agencies. In this regard, as first medical products are licensed for commercial use in Europe enabling a more widespread access to a stem cell-based therapy, the need for safe, validated and reproducible techniques for ex vivo cultured tissue preservation and distribution are coming to the forefront of research. However, these provide various new challenges for biobanking industry such as the retention of viability, good functionality of stem cells and sterility issues. This chapter provides an overview of the current advances in the field of corneal/limbal epithelial stem cell culture preservation techniques using either hypothermic storage or cryopreservation methods, that were used in different culturing steps (from stem cell isolation to the ex vivo epithelial graft preparation), with the reported impact on the post-thawing product recovery.

The regulations for the human use of advanced therapy medical products such as gene and cell therapy products have evolved in accordance with advance of clinical experience, scientific knowledge, and social acceptance to these technologies. In Japan, two laws, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices (PMD) Act and the Act on the Safety of Regenerative Medicine (ASRM), were enacted in November 2014. The PMD Act defines regenerative medical products for the first time and introduces a system for the conditional and time-limited marketing authorization of regenerative medical products. Under ASRM, the responsibilities of medical institutions to ensure the safety and provide transparency of such medical technologies are described. Amendments to accompanying guidelines for these two Acts are currently in preparation. It is expected that the new legislative frameworks will promote the timely development of new products and technologies, to bring safe and effective regenerative medicines to Japanese patients.