FDA forms human tissue safety task force

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced the formation of a multidisciplinary task force on human cell and tissue safety. The Human Tissue Task Force will be administered under the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research and the Office of Regulatory Affairs. In a statement, the FDA said that the new task force was "established as part of the agency's efforts to strengthen its comprehensive, risk-based system for regulating human cells and tissue."

The HTTF's main priority after its launch will be to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of new tissue regulations that came into force last year. The FDA expressed "particular interest" in a review of recent findings, which suggest that "some tissue recovery establishments are not following federal requirements."

Jesse Goodman, Director of the CBER, said: "the creation of this task force underscores the FDA's recognition that compliance with the rules in place to ensure recipient safety is our highest priority."