Advanced therapies: proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy, brain–computer interfaces, and cell and gene therapy
Some advanced therapies have a national licensing record; one brain–computer interface is a registered product with no published hospital list; some cell and gene therapies are only in trials. This page keeps the three apart.
- Approved
- Investigational
What it is
This page covers three groups: proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy systems, which are configured and licensed nationally as Class A equipment; brain–computer interfaces, where one implantable device has been registered in China; and cell and gene therapies, where some products are registered and others are only in trials. A licence or a registration is a regulatory fact; it is not evidence of outcome.
Official status
| Item | Status | Basis | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy systems — configuration licences granted, 2023 batch: 21 hospitals | Approved | National Health Commission notice 国卫通〔2024〕1号 | 2024-02-08 | https://www.nhc.gov.cn/wjw/c100175/202402/885cf828abb04dcb8949e1af69a250d0.shtml |
| Proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy systems — configuration licences granted, 2024 first round: 5 hospitals | Approved | National Health Commission notice 国卫通〔2024〕13号 | 2024-09-13 | https://www.nhc.gov.cn/caiwusi/c100043/202409/6842539e7ac64934b376e3166d1bf4e0.shtml |
| Proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy systems — configuration licences granted, 2024 second round: 11 hospitals | Approved | National Health Commission result, relayed by the Hebei Provincial Health Commission | 2025-03-17 | https://wsjkw.hebei.gov.cn/xwfb/410228.jhtml |
| Proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy systems — configuration licences granted, 2025 batch: 5 hospitals | Approved | National Health Commission notice (approved at the 10th directors' meeting of 2025) | 2025-12-08 | https://www.nhc.gov.cn/caiwusi/c100043/202512/fd1e748e0c764c1ba145d01087948ee5.shtml |
| Proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy systems — cumulative configuration licences: 42 hospitals | Approved | Sum of the four National Health Commission batch notices (21+5+11+5); cross-checked by China Pharmaceutical News (NMPA-supervised media) | 2025-12-08 | https://m.cnpharm.com/c/2025-12-10/1086443.shtml |
| Implantable brain–computer interface for hand motor function — registration cleared by NMPA | Approved | CGTN report of the NMPA registration (Neuracle Medical Technology, Shanghai) | 2026-03-13 | https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-03-13/China-approves-world-s-first-invasive-BCI-medical-device-1LtPFyBn4Zi/p.html |
| Brain–computer interface — first commercial implantation in China, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai | Approved | CGTN report | 2026-07-16 | https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-07-16/Shanghai-hospital-completes-world-s-first-BCI-for-hand-movement-1OOMpvnsFfa/p.html |
| AAV gene therapy for haemophilia B in adolescents — phase 1 trial results published | Investigational | Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences announcement of a Nature Medicine publication | 2026-09-24 | https://www.cams.ac.cn/yxyw/bf8c4565a2174b44817920b895118df0.htm |
Where it is available
- Proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy
- 42 hospitals hold a configuration licence as of 2025-12-08. A licence is a configuration permit: it is not an installed machine, and it does not by itself mean a hospital accepts international patients. Source Proton and heavy-ion radiotherapy
- Brain–computer interface
- The registered implantable device was first used commercially at Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, Shanghai (2026-07-16). Source Brain–computer interface
- CAR-T cell therapy
- Not published — no official hospital list and no treated-patient count was found; conflicting third-party figures are not used anywhere on this site.
- Gene therapy
- Not published — the haemophilia B programme is a phase 1 trial; no approved product and no treatment site is published.
Updates
- First-in-human phase 1 trial reports safety data for an injected ferroptosis therapy in solid tumours
- Review: CAR-T therapy is being tested beyond cancer, but nothing is approved there yet
- Phase 1 trial of in vivo CAR-T therapy for relapsed AML registered in Beijing
- Chinese teams publish phase 1 gene therapy results in adolescents with haemophilia B
- Phase 3 trial of an autologous cell therapy for COPD registered at a Guangzhou hospital
- China issues a standard for AI-powered brain-computer interface devices
- Foreign patients seek out China’s medical advances, Xinhua reports
- Research highlight: an early trial of an mRNA vaccine in EBV-linked tumours
- Beijing reports growth in drug trial capacity
- First commercial brain-computer interface surgery performed at Shanghai’s Huashan Hospital
- China’s NMPA clears a commercial implantable brain-computer interface for hand movement
What we do not know
- A configuration licence is not an operating machine. The official notices grant a configuration permit, which is not the same as installation, opening, or accepting international patients.
- No national official list exists for TOMO, GammaKnife or surgical robots, which are managed at provincial level; those are not part of the figures above.
- CAR-T: no official hospital list and no treated-patient count was found, so the availability of CAR-T at a named hospital is not published here.
- The 42 licences are compiled from four separate National Health Commission notices. No single official document lists them together, and a hospital may appear in more than one batch.
- A phase 1 trial result is preliminary evidence for one age group. It is not an approved treatment and it is not a statement that a therapy works.