Understanding regenerative medicine: a commissioner's viewpoint.

Regenerative medicines (RMs) represent a relatively new mode of care. Commissioners of healthcare need a pragmatic method to identify RMs which are safe and that will, when delivered in the context of an appropriate care pathway, avoid premature death and reduce morbidity for patients. This article offers a way of distinguishing between those which are useful currently and those which are not, although they may be in the future. This information is set in the context of reflection on issues that experience has demonstrated to be relevant to funding RMs. This article is potentially useful to developers of RM products as well as to commissioners of care, as it demonstrates what information will be required for a key step towards the adoption of their product.