Animal to human transplants get the Aussie go-aheadAustralia has lifted the ban on research involving animal to human transplants.
In 2004, NHMRC recommended that there should be no animal to human transplantation (xenotransplantation) clinical trials in Australia for five years, subject to review in December 2009.
The NHMRC Council has now recommended that xenotransplantation research could proceed in Australia when the following conditions are in place:
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has implemented a robust framework to regulate clinical trials involving xenotransplantation.
A robust standard of oversight and monitoring is established, including for example, a surveillance strategy and a patient register.
NHMRC has issued, using the advice of its Australian Health Ethics Committee and Animal Welfare Committee, guidance for researchers and ethics committees involved in animal-to-human studies.
In 2005, the New Zealand government recommended that xenotransplantation proceed on a case-by-case basis. Living Cell Technologies applied for approval to run a clinical trial treating eight diabetics with insulin-producing pig cells and won approval to do so earlier this year.
The SMC ran an online briefing on xenotransplantation and LCT’s trial in July. You can listen to it here.
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=ceeakedab.0.0.oh9uarcab.0&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencemediacentre.co.nz%2F2009%2F07%2F17%2Fxenotransplantation-and-the-lct-trials-in-new-zealand%2F&id=preview http://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2009/12/10/animal-to-human-transplants-get-the-aussie-go-ahead/--
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