The Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, Inc.

This commentary places the contributions from several Asian-Pacific countries that constitute this Special Issue in the context of trends in global regulation of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine products and services. It concentrates on the generic issues that face regulation in each jurisdiction and the manner how these issues have to be faced in the light of cultural, political, and economic regional differences.

The development of biomaterials for use in tissue engineering processes has not so far followed a scientifically valid pathway; there have been no properly constituted specifications for these biomaterials, whose choice has often been dictated by the perceived need to comply with prior FDA approval for use of the materials in nontissue engineering applications. This short essay discusses the difficulties that have resulted in this approach and provides both conceptual and practical solutions for the future, based on sound principles of biocompatibility and the need to use tissue engineering templates that replicate the niche of the target cells.