The ISSCR and other medical, scientific, educational, and healthcare groups sent a letter to members of the U.S. Congress supporting an amendment that would prevent the implementation of a new policy that would impose substantial barriers for fetal tissue research.

The ISSCR commends the U.S. District Court ruling that confirms the FDA’s authority to regulate clinics marketing and selling unproven therapies as stem cell products. The clinic, U.S. Stem Cell, has injected cells derived from fat into the eyes of several patients, resulting in at least three being blinded.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the largest professional organization of stem cell researchers from around the world, opposes the new U.S. Health and Human Services policy to eliminate federal funding for fetal tissue research in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intramural research program. This research has long been viewed as good public policy to improve human health and has proceeded with public support.

The ISSCR submitted comments to China's National Medical Products Administration regarding China's draft regulations for the Management of Clinical Research and Transformation Applications for Somatic Cell Therapy. 

The ISSCR welcomes the new policy guidance from Health Canada that clarifies the regulation of autologous cell products in Canada. Last year, the ISSCR urged Health Canada to harmonize Canada’s regulations with the international community to prevent the premature marketing and commercialization of cell therapies whose safety and effectiveness have not yet been established in clinical trials. The new policy guidance aligns Canada’s regulations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2017 Regenerative Medicine Framework and the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration’s 2018 Autologous human cell and tissue product regulations.