Stem cell therapy is gaining pace in India and has grown into a sizeable commercial value proposition for major players in the industry. However, as in any health care industry, there are lots of questions unanswered when it comes to clinical applications of stem cells and as a patient wanting answers, it could prove to be difficult to get clear answers.
The recent trend in stem cell therapy has been very erratic and the major players in the arena mix hope with hype and present a scenario which proves to be deceptive to the patients. Players from the private sector have proved that the stem cell therapy is a viable option for certain diseases where each condition is approached scientifically and treatment options are given to patients without hype. More companies must come into mainstream so that stem cell therapy can be offered to deserving patients at affordable costs..
Government bodies like the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) are organizing awareness meetings on a common platform, where non-scientific individuals are given an opportunity to interact with regulatory authorities issues regarding guidelines and the do’s and don’ts in stem cell therapy. This is a positive step towards regularizing the issues concerning stem cell therapy, as this will enable serious endeavours from the private sector to make promising headway in the domain.
In order to pursue therapies in regenerative medicine, there must be a definite common ground set between the government, private players and the scientific staff carrying out high -end stem cell research. The Government must first of all make the guidelines and implement them within a reasonable time-frame especially in the constitution of the National Apex Committee (NAC). There must be a robust private –public partnership in the stem cell committee so that each sector is properly represented. The Government must encourage private players to seek clinical grants and must expedite the process in granting their applications. Dissatisfied applicants often complain that the time taken for review of application is long and tedious and are seldom granted. No letter of clarification is sent and the reason for non-approval is also not communicated. Transparency is needed from the government bodies. Societies, like ours must be made a part of these stem cell committees so that we can add our dimension to it.
The Government institutes must extend and write translational research grants with the private sector to encourage public-private partnership. This facilitates acceleration of ideas and brings them from bench to clinical practice.
India is poised to be a multi-billion dollar industry in stem cell therapy and the focus of the government authorities must be to encourage private players and cut the red tape as much as possible and practice transparency in matters regarding granting of proposals. Innovative indigenous ideas must be put across as this will encourage our students for better participation in this booming industry. Government authorities must encourage participation of young and fresh talent in these promising areas of health and science.
As a watchdog society, Society for Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering, we aim to take stem cell banking, including cord blood banking and stem cell therapy to every individual, so that stem cell banking and therapy become more acceptable and thus become more beneficial to the public.
-The author is secretary, Society of Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering (SRMTE).