Chinese hospitals set to sell experimental cell therapies

Select elite hospitals in China could soon be able to sell experimental therapies that engineer a patient’s own cells to treat diseases such as cancer — without approval from the nation’s drug regulator. Before 2016, Chinese regulations for the sale of cell therapies were ambiguous, and many hospitals, especially military hospitals, sold the treatments to patients while safety and efficacy testing was still under way. Under the proposed regulations, roughly 1,400 elite hospitals that provide specialist care and conduct medical research, known as Grade 3A hospitals, would be able to apply for a licence to sell cell therapies, after proving that they have expertise in processing the cells and running clinical trials.

Source: www.nature.com