Concise review: making and using clinically compliant pluripotent stem cell lines

The field of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) is in a state of dynamic flux driven by significant advances in the derivation of specific phenotypes from embryonic stem cells, breakthroughs in somatic cell nuclear transfer, and dramatic improvements in generating induced PSCs using zero footprint methods. Spurred by these technological advances, companies have begun to plan clinical studies using human PSC derivatives manufactured in current Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant conditions. In the present review, we discuss the challenges in making these biological products, starting from tissue sourcing to the processes involved in manufacture, storage, and distribution. Additional challenges exist to meeting the regulatory requirements and keeping costs affordable. A model is described that has been proposed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health for reducing the costs and permitting flexibility and innovation by individual investigators. This model, combined with small adjustments in the regulatory processes tailored to address the unique properties of PSCs, has the potential of significantly accelerating the implementation of PSC-based cell therapy.