Foreigners check-in to China for hospital expertise

Fresh hope offered

In recent years, China's ongoing medical technology innovations have brought new hope not only for patients in the country but also beyond its borders.

Last year, a 4-year-old Pakistani girl suffering from a severe genetic disorder was brought to the Children's Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai for medical treatment shortly after her parents learned online that a Chinese-developed gene-editing drug had been used to successfully treat young patients suffering the same disease.

The girl, who had thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, became the first foreign youngster to benefit from the breakthrough Chinese gene-editing technology.

After four months of treatment, doctors announced in May that the girl had ended her dependency on blood transfusions, and had returned to living a normal life.

"With the multi-disciplinary team's diligent care, the child's total hemoglobin concentration has surpassed 100 grams per liter, the level of a healthy person," said Qian Xiaowen, who was in charge of her case.

The treatment used a base-editing drug called CS-101, designed to target severe beta-thalassemia. The clinical research project was launched in 2023 by the hospital in collaboration with CorrectSequence Therapeutics, a Shanghai-based biotech firm.

Patients with severe thalassemia typically require transfusions once a month throughout their entire life, and may die from complications without them, doctors said.

"We express our sincerest gratitude to the Shanghai hospital's healthcare workers. Our family felt not only the physical care for the child but also emotional support throughout the entire journey," said Muhammad Adeel, the girl's father.

Innovative drugs and medical devices from China have been received remarkably well on the global stage in recent years, enhancing the recognition of the country's medical technology.

China's brain-computer interface technology, for instance, has enabled paralyzed individuals to control a powered wheelchair and direct a robotic dog to retrieve deliveries with their thoughts. The medical technology milestone was announced by the Shanghai-based Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in December.

In late January, Jiangsu province-based Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Ltd revealed it had reached an exclusive licensing and collaboration agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim, a German pharmaceutical giant with extensive experience in global immunotherapy.

They will jointly develop Simcere's self-developed bispecific antibody SIM0709, potentially a first-in-class treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.

"Many patients with inflammatory bowel disease still experience disease progression and severe complications despite existing anti-inflammatory therapies. We're pleased to partner with Simcere to accelerate the development of this potentially transformative medicine that may change patients' lives," said Carine Boustany, United States research site head and global head of immunology and respiratory diseases at Boehringer Ingelheim.