Need to increase pace of research in regenerative medicine'

Mumbai: India needs to increase the pace of research in regenerative medicine to come up to the global level, especially in the area of clinical trials and regulatory requirements, a doctor said on Saturday.

"Autologous cell therapies with minimum manipulation also need standardisation. A national level consortium should be formed consisting of governing authorities, academia, industry partners, researchers with the common goal of making mesenchymal stem cells available as Living Drugs to masses," said Pradeep Mahajan, Founder Chairman of StemRx, an organisation in the field of regenerative medicine and cell based therapy.

He was speaking at the International Conference on Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells.

Mahajan was invited to share his knowledge on Mesenchymal Stem Cells- the new drug on the horizon. During the conference he emphasised on how a single cell when applied properly can work as a multi-action drug. 

According to Mahajan, one of the reasons India is unable to research more on regenerative medicine is the health burden due to chronic debilitating diseases like diabetes, heart problems, neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's and financial burden caused by it. 

"With advent of cell based therapy and their availability such disease conditions can reduce these burdens to a great extent," said Mahajan.