A new VANGUARD publication has recently been made available in Transplant International. Its name is “Ethics of Early Clinical Trials of Bio-Artificial Organs” and the publication outlines the ethical challenges addressed by Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam team. Although the social value of bio-artificial organs can be undoubtedly enormous, the VANGUARD project is also evaluating potential ethical issues related to bio-artificial organs that were raised with the introduction of this novel technology. The full article can be read here: https://doi.org/10.3389/ti.2022.10621
Abstract
Regenerative medicine is the new frontier in the field of organ transplantation. Research groups around the world are using regenerative medicine technologies to develop bio-artificial organs for transplantation into human patients. While most of this research is still at the preclinical stage, bio-artificial organ technologies are gearing up for first-in-human clinical trials in the not-too-distant future. What are the ethical conditions under which early-phase clinical research of bio-artificial organs can be conducted safely and responsibly? What lessons can be learned from prior experiences with early-phase clinical trials in adjacent fields of research? This is a Meeting Report of an online international workshop organised in the context of the Horizon 2020-funded VANGUARD project, which is developing a bio-artificial pancreas for the treatment of patients with type 1 diabetes.
