Shiseido opens hair regeneration research facility

Published: 30-Apr-2014

Firm announces plans to open the Cell-Processing and Expansion Center at Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster in Japan

Shiseido has announced plans to open the Shiseido Cell-Processing and Expansion Center (SPEC) on 1 May.

The centre, located in the Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster in Kobe, Japan, will centralise research and development on hair regenerative medicine with an aim toward commercialisation. Regenerative medicine in Japan is an emerging industry which the government aims to foster through new legislation and revisions to existing law as part of economic reform strategies, in order to advance in this field. With the goal of clinical application of regenerative medicine to treat alopecia and thinning hair, Shiseido concluded a technical collaboration agreement in July 2013 with Canadian bio-venture company RepliCel Life Sciences, acquiring an exclusive geographic license to use RepliCel Hair-01 (RCH-01) hair regeneration technology in the entire Asian region.

RCH-01 has been developed over ten years of scientific research, and safe application in humans has been validated by RepliCel's phase 1 clinical trial. RepliCel has patents issued for hair follicle mesenchymal stem cells and their usage in Japan, the US, Australia and the EU. RCH-01 is an 'autologous cell transplantation technology', in which specific cells, isolated from the hair follicles taken from the scalp of a patient, are cultured and injected into the balding scalp area, potentially stimulating residing hair follicles and promoting new growth in the balding scalp area.

The Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster is one of the core bases of the Kansai Innovation International Strategic Comprehensive Special Zone designated by the Japanese government to promote industrial development in advanced medicine and to provide a competitive advantage in the international market. It is the largest national cluster zone specialised in life sciences, with the focus on promoting translation of leading scientific research and advanced knowledge in regenerative medicine into clinical use.

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