China is becoming a destination for U.S. patients seeking CAR-T cell therapy, according to a Sept. 6 report from The Wall Street Journal.
“China has basically done to CAR-T cell therapy the same thing that it’s done to other industries, which is, they’ve industrialized it,” Sairah Ahmed, MD, director of Houston-based University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s CAR-T program, told the Journal. Dr. Ahmed has advised some of her overseas patients to seek CAR-T therapy in China.
Since beginning to offer CAR-T therapy to international patients in 2023, the Shanghai SinoUnited Hospital has treated roughly three dozen patients from 12 countries, including patients from MD Anderson, Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins.
CAR-T therapy costs can range from $150,000 to $230,000 in China and from $550,000 to $850,000 in the U.S., according to the report.
Beyond cost, the Journal report highlights broad specialist care, smoother visa assistance and strong English-language service, plus the speed at which personalized cell therapies are produced by China’s private international hospitals as reasons for the uptick in overseas patients choosing China for CAR-T therapy.
The report follows an April 28 article published in the Harvard Business Review in which a group of leaders from New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford (Calif.) University outline the significant progress China has made in pharmaceutical research and development, and calls for academic medical centers to rethink their well-established model of drug discovery and development to stay competitive.
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
