The Jerome Lejeune Foundation was heard in the context of the future revision of the bioethics law: on March 30 by the National Consultative Ethics Committee and on April 3 by the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices. Its research director, Dr. Elise Saunier Vivar, calls on scientists to commit resolutely to the path of ethical research by prioritizing iPS cells over human embryonic cells.
Today, it is clear that human iPS cells, whose acquisition does not involve the destruction of a human embryo, have all the characteristics of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) necessary for use by scientists and clinicians to develop innovative treatments for diseases and test new drugs.
Experts Unanimous on the Quality of iPS
I returned from a Keystone conference dedicated to research on iPSC [1] held in Kyoto last January around Professor Yamanaka, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012 for his work on the creation of iPSCs (cf. 20 years of iPS cells: where are we today?). This conference celebrated the 20th anniversary of the discovery and the worldwide experts on iPSCs, who are working on the generation and clinical use of these cells, who are implementing ongoing clinical trials, unanimously stated that these iPS cells are comparable in all respects to human embryonic stem cells and have all the necessary characteristics to carry out their work.
All trials confirm the excellent safety of human iPSC-derived products (hiPSCs), without tumorigenesis [2] or severe adverse events.
Two Treatments Commercialized in Japan
At the beginning of the month, on March 6, Japan, a pioneer in cellular reprogramming 20 years ago, opened the way with the authorization of the commercialization of 2 therapeutic protocols based on hiPSC-derived cells, for the treatment of heart failure and Parkinson’s disease [3]. The first treatment, RiHEART, consists of iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, intended for patients with severe ischemic heart failure for whom conventional treatments have failed. The second, Amchepry, allows the administration of dopaminergic neuronal progenitor cells derived from allogeneic iPSCs that are transplanted into the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease.
This world first marks a historic milestone in regenerative medicine, and is even more significant because in 2026, there is still no authorized commercialization on a large scale worldwide of human embryonic stem cell-based treatments, even though research on these cells is older. It goes back to the late 90s.
“Our French researchers are brilliant; they must also be creative and engage in ethical preference.”
French research must have the ambition to ethically advance science. Choosing to preferentially use iPSCs, which have all the characteristics of human embryonic stem cells necessary for the development of innovative treatments and modeling of diseases to test new drugs, is meeting the challenge of responsible excellence in research. Our French researchers are brilliant, they must also be creative and commit to an ethical preference to address scientific questions for which iPSCs represent today, after 20 years of international research, a scientific equivalent.
Civil society may set limits, but the scholarly society must seek. And it is creative. As evidenced by research in Japan, where researchers worked and found alternatives after the ban in 2006 on the use of human embryo-derived cells for clinical trials, and continued their work even after the ban was lifted in 2009, until the authorization of commercialization of the first treatments today.
French research is not condemned to using the human embryo to advance and excel, on the contrary. By preferring the use of iPSCs, it can and must demonstrate its excellence.
[1] Induced pluripotent stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells [2] Tendency to generate cancer [3] References to specific research studies and trials conducted in Japan for the treatment of heart disease and Parkinson’s disease.
