Exciting opportunities in stem cell technology and regenerative biology in Indian healthcare industry

Novel drug discovery pipelines till late have largely relied on model human cell lines or primary cultures for lead candidate drug identification. Putative shortlisted drugs after preliminary high-throughput screening are further rigorously tested in preclinical animal models of disease starting from small animal models-rodents and large animal models-primates for efficacy evaluation before human testing. However, despite rigorous testing in cell lines and preclinical models of disease 90 per cent drug attrition is reported after entering human clinical trials. Such high failure rates amount to huge loss in time and cost to the health care and pharma industry.

Due to such astronomical failure rates in drug discovery programmes across the globe for several human diseases, health care research has undergone a paradigm shift owing to recent cutting edge research endeavors in stem cells and regenerative medicine. This shift is driven by limitation of animal models which do not mimic human disease conditions and use of transformed cell lines which have altered drug efflux mechanisms and thus confound drug dosage and toxicity evaluation at the earliest stage of drug discovery. Primary cell culture systems though untransformed are not scalable and do not encompass entire tissue heterogeneity and complexity for disease modelling. In addition, human population are highly heterogenous, and drug responses and gene polymorphisms necessitate precision medicine approaches. Pre-clinical animal models used at the end point of drug discovery pipeline are inadequate due to inter-species differences and poor mimicry of human physiological and pathological states.

Filling this unmet need in the health care sector and pharma industry requires in-depth interdisciplinary understanding of human development, cutting edge exposure to stem cell technologies and tissue engineering-based approaches. This has led to emergence of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine as a sought out trans-disciplinary field for human disease modeling and drug discovery. Creating organotypic interactions in a dish using stem cell based organoid models holding promise as organ replacement surrogates is soon going to be a practical possibility with constant scientific endeavors of stem cell researchers across the globe. Thus, stem cell biology has a potential to transform organ transplantation in the clinic. Clinical success has been achieved using adult Mesenchymal stem cells for different degenerative diseases across allogenic barriers. Adult stem cells can be obtained from several hospital discards such as placenta or extracted tooth and can be a treasured cell source for banking and designing scalable cellular therapeutics. Organ-on a chip with integration of micro-physiological systems offer holistic dynamic miniaturized tissue mimicking models for accelerated drug discovery and are also cost-intensive.

Stem cell based derivates integrated with genome and bioengineering approaches are emerging as the new age Advanced Therapy Medicinal products opening ground-breaking opportunities for treatment of degenerative diseases and injury. Thus, there is immense need for personnel with the know-how and skill sets in stem cell culture and stem cell-based product development for clinical usage. MAHE was the first in Asia to identify this need and had incepted Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine (MIRM) a unique Institution offering niche exposure to stem cell technologies through a research integrated Master program in Stem cell Technology and Regenerative Medicine. Over the years MIRM has bloomed as a full-fledged research-intensive Institution offering master’s programs and doctoral and post-doctoral opportunities for scholars enthusiastic in conducting research in this revolutionary field and envisioning transformative carriers in the health care sector. MIRM at MAHE Bangalore campus has emerged as a training hub for students, clinicians and basic researchers in the revolutionary field of stem cells and regenerative medicine spearheaded by dedicated scientists with interdisciplinary knowledge in stem cells, tissue engineering, biomaterials, developmental biology, neurobiology and transplantation immunology. The mission of this Institute since its inception had been to craft futuristic cures for varied debilitating diseases through developing technical and research knowhow and providing skilled manpower to cater to the unmet needs of the healthcare industry. Achieving excellence in education and research in field of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine would be a futuristic approach to provide precision medicine-based solutions to several debilitating diseases with inadequate cures through stem cell-based drug discovery platforms and biotherapeutic approaches. Personnel with the technical knowhow in stem cell and regenerative biology field would be the future leaders in healthcare industry driving transformative cures through innovation in regenerative medicine. Futuristic medicine has transited from scalpels and blades to regenerative approaches which aims at reprograming, rebuilding and renewing damaged tissues and organs and stem cell biologists would be the harbingers of this change in healthcare setups.