Singapore: The Japanese government has plans to help private-sector companies in exporting as early as 2015 regenerative medicine technology and related equipment to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) has reported.

As a first step, the government will promote Terumo Corp's technology to grow heart muscles, while exports will be handled by Medical Excellence Japan, a three-way partnership formed in April by industry, government and academia.

Terumo has been conducting clinical trials since 2012 for the treatment, which involves taking cells from a patient, culturing them outside the body, then processing the cells into sheets and applying them to the surface of the heart muscle.

Separately, the government aims to pass this fall Bills shortening the screening period for regenerative medicine products. It will also negotiate with overseas authorities to simplify local approval processes for products already cleared in Japan, said the report.