Friedberg was talking about induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)–based stem cell therapies becoming an “insane field” over the next couple of decades. As of late 2025, the field is clearly expanding fast but is still in an early clinical phase. Market analyses estimate the global iPSC market at roughly USD 1.5–2 billion in 2024 and project it to grow at about 9–10% annually into the 2030s, with even faster (~20% CAGR) growth forecast specifically for iPSC‑derived cell therapies, reaching around USD 15 billion by 2033, reflecting strong R&D investment and commercialization efforts. (giiresearch.com) Scientific reviews report more than 150 iPSC‑related interventional trials worldwide by late 2023, including over 20 trials using iPSC‑derived cellular products across indications such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, cardiac disease and graft‑versus‑host disease, and describe iPSC‑based therapies as rapidly evolving with transformative potential in regenerative medicine. (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) Industry analyses list 60+ companies running or preparing clinical trials with iPSC‑derived therapeutics, underscoring that it has become a major focus area in biotech. (bioinformant.com) At the same time, a 2024–2025 systematic review finds only 10 published clinical studies of iPSC therapies and about 115 patients treated so far, all in small early‑phase trials, and concludes that several more years are needed before safety and efficacy can be established and routine clinical impact assessed. (sciencedirect.com) Overall, available evidence shows rapid growth and intense activity consistent with the spirit of the prediction, but because the forecast window runs through the 2030s–2040s and iPSC therapies are not yet widely approved or part of standard care, it is too early in 2025 to judge definitively whether the field will ultimately reach the long‑run scale implied. Therefore the prediction’s final accuracy remains inconclusive at this time.