South Korean Stem Cell Program Scores a Victory – Five years have already passed since scandal rocked the South Korean stem cell research program. (This, of course, when professor Hwang Woo-Suk was publicly disgraced after being found guilt of fraud and embezzlement after fabricating the results of his stem cell research.)
And on this five year anniversary, South Korea has not only secured the 2018 Winter Olympics, but has also gained approval from their Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) for a stem cell medication intended for heart attack victims.
The approval is significant not only for this peticular medication, but according to Oh Il-hwan (professor of molecular biology at the Catholic University School of Medicine in Seoul) represents “the government opening the road for progressive development in stem cell research.”
The Korean Food & Drug Administration said that it had completed the procedures needed to authorize the sale of Hearticellgram-AMI, a stem cell medication for acute myocardial infarction.