Risk

Research for medicinal purposes

Regenerative medicine is such a complex issue with so many stakeholders that as yet it has no single legal definition across Europe. Many stakeholders come from differing legal bases, ranging from human rights law to intellectual property rights, making the development of a cohesive regulatory framework incredibly difficult.

It is exactly this complexity that the EU-funded research project REMEDiE – Regenerative Medicine In Europe - seeks to address. The project is looking at regenerative medicine – particularly the controversial area of stem cell research – from all stakeholder viewpoints : economics, regulation and policy, ethics and societal attitudes.

“Every stakeholder has an impact on how the field moves forward,” explains project coordinator Professor Andrew Webster from the University of York. “Bio-ethics influences regulators, their policies affect how commercial companies behave, and researchers and clinicians push for opportunities to take knowledge forward in the lab and in clinical trials. We’re trying to look at the interplay between these parties and see how they influence developments in different countries.”

The driving force behind the project is the WUN Risk research group, which came together to provide a global analysis of the challenges and opportunities which new medical technologies present for society and industry.

"Research for medicinal purposes" - information sheet about this group (PDF 161kb)