‘The Little Purple Book‘, 2nd Edition: Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine Glossary

Abstract

by Future Medicine as a standalone supplement (‘The Little Purple Book’) [4–6] to the flagship journal Regenerative Medicine. Scientific breakthroughs, innovation and the overall pace of progress for both regenerative medicine and cell therapy has vastly increased over the last 4 years, and as a result, a great many new terms have come into existence. Therefore, Future Medicine is very proud to publish the second edition of what has become a highly popular and much used glossary as a supplement to this current issue [7]. Since the first edition [4], one significant development to note is the ‘spinning out’ from regenerative medicine of cell therapy as a dominant platform technology in its own right. Cell therapy is now demonstrating medical capability across a very broad spectrum of clinical indications, from regenerative medicine to cell cancer vaccines. The title of this second edition of ‘The Little Purple Book’ [7] thus contains both terms, as well as their distinctly different definitions within the main text. The same team of collaborators that delivered the original version – BSI, London Regenerative Medicine Network (LRMN) and Future Medicine – have, once again, greatly enjoyed working together to produce an updated, revised and reformatted new edition. As before, Alex Kay has expertly managed and coordinated the project from start to finish. We are all extremely grateful to the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skill (BIS) for providing the necessary funding. We would also like to thank the Rt Hon. David Willetts, MP, the UK government Minister of State for Universities and Science, for his robust support, including providing the Preface as an introduction to the new glossary. Regenerative medicine and cell therapy are rapidly becoming global multibillion dollar healthcare sectors [1]. Both are unique and disruptive to established treatment regimens, medical practices and healthcare business models [1–3]. The medical specialty of regenerative medicine and the platform technology of living cells as therapies have many of their own unique challenges; however, the need for harmonization across national and international boundaries is an issue that faces them both. Thus, all the respective parties from both sectors need to be able to properly communicate their ideas, opinions and solutions, and interact with ease. This is especially demanding given the large numbers of diverse direct stakeholder groups involved in both sectors, including patients, the general public, politicians, scientists, engineers, clinicians, industrial workers, regulators and funders, not to mention all the indirect enablers (i.e., patent lawyers, tools and reagent manu facturers, and storage and distribution companies – to name but a few). There is, therefore, a very real and urgent need for an up-todate, high-quality, consensus-driven glossary of essential specialist terms.