TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2026--
A path breaking scientific discovery, unraveling successful wound healing mechanism in urethral stricture with BEES-HAUS cell therapy has been reported by Indo-Japan physician-scientists. This milestone achievement in regenerative medicine, yielding clinical safety and efficacy, is the first of its kind, wherein a hybrid approach of mixing two groups of autologous buccal epithelial cells,one cultured in 2D and another in 3D in Festigel scaffold were used in the management of urethral stricture; paracrine effect of IGF-1 produced by 2D-cultured cells and engraftment of 3D-Festigel cultured cells, which cover the urethrotomy wound, together repairing the urothelial defect, has been published in Frontiers in Urology. This feat though modest, is a global first in terms of both in vitro tissue engineering and clinical benefits by in vivo healing, restoring the urothelial integrity and is a giant leap for its potential of yielding stricture recurrence-free good quality of life to patients with voiding problems, opined the researchers.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260506584358/en/
Tissue engineering technologies to create organs in the lab such as urethra have been reported. But long-term recurrence free solution for male urethral stricture remains a challenge. Balloon dilatation or DVIU urethrotomy exposes the sub urothelial tissue to urine which triggers inflammation causing spongiofibrosis and stricture recurrence. Covering the urethrotomy wound, to restore the urothelial integrity of stricture inflicted urethra, currently accomplished by BMG-plasty with a sheet of autologous buccal tissue, in BEES-HAUS procedure is managed with cell transplant for short segment strictures. Further simplified one-step cell transplant ‘ BHES-HAUS’, that doesn’t require cell culture in a lab, yielding encouraging outcome, has been accepted for an interactive presentation at the American Urological Association meeting, AUA 2026.
Inflammatory reaction of urethra provoked by catheterization, instrumentation or infection varies between individuals and some develop urethral stricture. To predict the risks and develop better management strategies, following futuristic research have been initiated:
BEES-HAUS, having been approved in Japan as per Act on Safety of Regenerative Medicine, GN Corporation and Global Niche Corp., USA are open for out-licensing and tech-transfer of BHES-HAUS for clinical translation after approvals worldwide.
Urethral stricture starts with narrowing of a short segment of urethral lumen. At early stages, it is managed by balloon dilatation or DVIU Urethrotomy. The open urethrotomy wound after dilatation or DVIU has to heal from the edges of the wound, which may take a longer time. In BEES-HAUS cell therapy, the cell transplant having proven successful engraftment, covering the urethrotomy wound, yielding clinical safety and efficacy may be considered to be included in the treatment guidelines after validation. Its simplified version, the BHES-HAUS (Buccal epithelium Hashed and Encapsulated in Scaffold—Hybrid Approach to Urethral Stricture) accomplished in one-go without need for cell culture in a lab, works on similar principles. After long term follow-up, BHES-HAUS minimally invasive approach may be worth combining with DVIU and balloon dilatation, as it may be able to provide longer duration of recurrence-free, good quality of life without need for intermittent self-catheterization.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi certainly has the New York Yankees' number — even if nobody else does lately.
The veteran right-hander cooled off Aaron Judge & Co. for the second time in eight days Wednesday night, pitching eight masterful innings for the Texas Rangers in their 6-1 victory.
“That’s the tough part, right? We don’t really do this very often, where we have to face that same team back-to-back starts," Eovaldi said. "Fortunately for me the last time it was a good one. I know I threw a lot of splitters and cutters. Today with the curveball being as effective as it was, it just allowed me to I guess rely on that pitch a little bit more, but also keep doing what was working before.”
Eovaldi threw 31 curveballs — his most in a game since 2019 with Boston, manager Skip Schumaker noted.
“The last two outings with Evo have been fantastic. I mean, today was exactly what we needed and hoped for against a really good lineup,” Schumaker said. “I thought there was a chance he'd go the distance, but I wasn't going to push him with a five-run lead.”
The 36-year-old Eovaldi, a two-time All-Star who pitched for the Yankees from 2015-16, struck out a season-best eight and walked none, firing 72 of his 101 pitches for strikes. He allowed just three hits after tossing seven innings of four-hit ball in a 3-0 win over New York on April 29 at home.
"He was fooling ’em all night,” said catcher Kyle Higashioka, who spent 2017-23 with the Yankees. “He just uses all his pitches in a manner that just keeps people guessing, forcing them to commit hard or soft. I think it’s just, his stuff lends itself to really keeping guys off balance. He's always a tough at-bat and he really knows how to pitch. He’s got a great capacity for that. So I mean, it’s no surprise to me he shut ’em down twice.”
Each splendid performance snapped a three-game slide for Texas. In between, the American League-leading Yankees (25-12) scored 46 runs while going 5-0 against the Orioles and Rangers.
“You know how good that team is over there. Their game planning is elite, so you have to mix it up. You cannot get into patterns," Schumaker said. "I didn’t know what he was throwing, either. I mean, his game plan, he has such good feel for swings and what the hitters are trying to sit on. So, there’s a game plan but then he also goes out there and he can navigate a game on his own as good as anybody based on what he’s seeing. And that’s the part of the game that sometimes gets lost today, right?”
Eovaldi became the first Rangers pitcher to last longer than seven innings this year and improved to 5-2 with a 2.22 ERA in his last 11 starts against the Yankees since April 8, 2022.
“That’s the biggest thing for me is, I enjoy the challenge. I want to face the best teams, and I want to go out there and attack the zone as best I can,” Eovaldi said.
“I played here in Yankee Stadium enough to know like, how big the crowd plays into effect, how they can get the players going. It’s one of those things about being able to pitch on the road is just being able to try to take the crowd out of the game.”
New York had won eight in a row at home.
“They’re a good-hitting team, so they’re going to come out and learn from the last game, because he threw fantastic against them last week," Higashioka said. "They’re going to learn from that and they’re going to make adjustments, so we have to kind of figure out a way to mitigate that without straying too far from Evo’s strengths. So, he did a great job adjusting.”
Eovaldi thought he mixed his pitches well and said it helped that the Rangers scored early, building a 4-0 lead by the third behind homers from Corey Seager and Evan Carter.
That allowed Eovaldi to "just try to stay on the attack the whole time,” he said.
The only blip came when Judge hit his major league-best 15th homer with two outs in the sixth for the Yankees, who had won five straight games and 15 of 17. But that merely trimmed the margin to 6-1, and Eovaldi retired his final seven batters after that.
“It was an amazing outing," Schumaker said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Yankees' Aaron Judge reacts after striking out during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
