ReNeuron Clinical Trial in the UK
From the Telegraph: The Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) - the ethics body for stem cell clinical trials - has given the research the green light following months of delay. Following the approval, ReNeuron will start the world's first trial of injecting stem cells into patients' brains in the hope they will repair areas damaged by stroke and improve both mental and physical function. ... ReNeuron was first granted permission to conduct the trial by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency last January, but needed a recommendation from the GTAC before it could start the Phase 1 clinical trial. A year later, the company has been given the go-ahead and the first of twelve stroke patients is expected to receive treatment in Scotland later this year. Michael Hunt, ReNeuron chief executive, said the approval represented 'the culmination of many months of work'." This is an apt illustration of why it requires so much time and money to bring new medical technology to the clinic - it's the regulators who cause the loss of a year here and a few years there, not the challenges of research and development.