Ukraine first in CIS to register 3 stem cell therapy methods

"For the first time in CIS it was officially allowed to use the preparations of stem cells. Previously, protocols on the use of stem cells did not exist. We are the first among the CIS countries today to have been authorized to treat the three diseases. This is official recognition of the methods we have been developing for years," Hladkykh said.

In turn, the director of the coordinating center for transplantology of organs, tissues and cells of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, MD Ruslan Saliutyn said that within five years the Institute of Cell Therapy, together with the Shupyk National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education and the Shalimov National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology, conducted clinical trials of cord-blood stem cell preparations for the treatment of pancreatic necrosis and critical limb ischemia. At the same time, researchers at the Husak Institute of Urgent and Reconstructive Surgery of the National Academy of Sciences have completed the five-year clinical testing of stem-cell treatment of trophic ulcers of investing tissues and burn injuries. The results achieved by Ukrainian scientists make it possible to talk about high efficiency of the new methods, Saliutyn noted.

"Ukraine stays among the leaders by the study and, most importantly, legitimate use of stem cells in clinical practice. We have every right to claim that clinical use of cell-tissue grafts holds prospects," the scientist said.