Four Food and Drug Administration draft guidance documents and the REGROW Act: A litmus test for future changes in human cell‐ and tissue‐based products regulatory policy in the United States?

Modern regenerative medicine research has expanded well past the development of traditional drugs and medical devices with many promising new therapies encompassing an increasingly diverse range of substances, notably cell‐based therapies. These substantial recent developments and the progress in the health care and therapeutics fields necessitate a new regulatory framework agile enough to accommodate these unique therapies and acknowledge their differences with traditional pharmaceuticals. In the United States, recent proposed changes in the regulatory framework for autologous human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue‐based products (HCT/Ps) and their perceived risk–benefit analysis for patients remain controversial in the scientific field. To provide perspective on of the current status of the most recent attempts to redefine and conceptualize these changes in the United States, we will examine 4 draft guidance documents implemented by the Food and Drug Administration in interpreting relevant concepts and terminology pertaining to HCT/Ps: the Bipartisan Policy Center think tank report, “Advancing Regenerative Cellular Therapy: Medical Innovation for Healthier Americans,” the proposed REGROW Act for HCT/Ps, and the current 24 Food and Drug Administration‐approved HCT/Ps and related products in the United States.