China has approved multiple CAR-T products and registered more CAR-T trials than any other country, including the first CAR-T therapy approved anywhere for a solid tumour. For international patients, this is the single most common reason to travel.
| Product | Target | Approved indication | China approval | List price (CNY) |
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Prices are indicative list prices for the cell product and change frequently; hospitalisation, management of side effects and travel are additional. NMPA has approved further products beyond those listed — ask the treating centre for its current formulary.
CAR-T is not a same-day procedure. It is manufactured from your own cells, which sets the schedule.
A 3–4 hour apheresis procedure extracts your T cells. Assessment and work-up happen around it. Many centres let you fly home afterwards.
Your cells are engineered at a GMP facility. You can usually wait at home during this period — that is why the pathway is two trips, not one long stay.
Short chemotherapy to prepare the immune environment, then the cell infusion.
The real risk window: cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurotoxicity (ICANS). Experienced centres manage these daily.
You receive translated records for your home physician, who takes over long-term monitoring.
Typical all-in figure for a commercial CAR-T course in China including hospitalisation.
US CAR-T list prices run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars before hospitalisation, with full pathways commonly quoted well above the Chinese figure.
Some trial slots are far cheaper, but enrolment depends on strict eligibility criteria that disqualify many patients.