Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major respiratory disorder that poses a serious threat to patients’ lives. According to incomplete statistics, more than 100 million people in China suffer from COPD, among whom approximately 40% have moderate to severe disease. Current standard treatments for COPD mainly rely on the long-term use of bronchodilators to temporarily relieve dyspnea, combined with antibiotics, expectorants, and oxygen therapy to control disease progression. However, these treatments can only alleviate symptoms; they cannot repair damaged lung tissue or restore normal pulmonary gas-exchange function.

Ruijin Hospital (Hainan Campus), affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, is now collaborating with Regend Therapeutics to implement one of the world’s most advanced therapies—autologous airway basal stem cell therapy—for the treatment of COPD, aiming to achieve true regeneration and repair of damaged lung tissue.

 

What Is Autologous Airway Basal Stem Cell Therapy, and What Makes It Unique?

Professor Zhou Min, Vice Chair of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, at Ruijin Hospital, provided a detailed explanation of this novel therapy. Autologous stem cells are derived from the patient’s own body. In this approach, airway basal stem cells are harvested from relatively healthy regions of the patient’s airway via bronchoscopy. These cells are then expanded ex vivo and subsequently reinfused into the lungs through bronchoscopy.

According to Professor Zhou, the therapeutic mechanism involves delivering isolated and expanded stem cells into the alveolar regions of the lung. These cells express specific molecular markers and possess strong regenerative capacity, allowing them to differentiate directionally into functional alveolar epithelial cells. In doing so, they repair damaged alveolar structures. The regenerated cells can naturally integrate with and reconnect to the bronchial tree, forming newly functional alveoli. These new alveoli improve pulmonary ventilation and diffusion capacity. In addition, regenerated cells secrete pro-angiogenic factors that promote capillary ingrowth toward the newly formed alveoli, thereby reconstructing functional gas-exchange units. The epithelial cells of these new alveoli exhibit enhanced vitality and functionality.

 

Strong Clinical Evidence for Safety and Efficacy

Over the past decade, multiple clinical studies led by teams from Guangzhou Medical University First Affiliated Hospital (including Professor Nanshan Zhong, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a leading authority in respiratory medicine, and Professor Shiyue Li), Ruijin Hospital (including Professor Qu Jieming and Professor Zhou Min), and Tongji University (Professor Wei Zuo and colleagues) have demonstrated that airway basal stem cells show favorable safety and efficacy profiles in the treatment of major respiratory diseases, including COPD. These findings have been published in leading international journals such as Science Translational Medicine (2024), Cell Reports Medicine (2024), and eLife (2024).

Since the initiation of clinical research, this therapy has been successfully applied in about 150 patients, with its safety and therapeutic benefits well validated.

Safety outcomes include:

1. As an autologous cell therapy, it avoids immune rejection and cross-infection, offering a high level of safety.
2. Long-term follow-up has shown no treatment-related serious adverse events or increased tumor risk.

Efficacy outcomes include:

1. Significant improvement in pulmonary diffusing capacity (DLCO) in treated patients.
2. Significant improvement in six-minute walk distance in patients.
3. CT imaging demonstrating marked repair of emphysematous lung regions.
4. An estimated increase in predicted survival of 2–3 years.

 

Chest CT images before and after treatment (emphysematous regions shown in red) 

 

Strict Regulatory Oversight and Institutional Qualification

Due to the unique nature of stem cell–based therapies, exceptionally high standards are required for hospital facilities, safety systems, technical capabilities, and staff qualifications, and regulatory oversight is extremely stringent. Ruijin Hospital (Hainan Campus) is among the few institutions nationwide that have passed evaluations by health authorities and obtained the necessary licenses, making it one of the very limited hospitals qualified and capable of delivering this advanced therapy.

 

 

Who Is Eligible for Lung Stem Cell Therapy?

At present, lung stem cell therapy is primarily applicable to three categories of chronic structural lung diseases:

1. COPD, including emphysema and pulmonary bullae;
2. Interstitial lung diseases (ILD);
3. Bronchiectasis.

Patients must meet certain baseline criteria, such as absence of severe infectious diseases or malignant tumors, and must be able to tolerate bronchoscopy. Eligibility is determined through rigorous pre-treatment screening, and only patients who pass comprehensive evaluation are approved for treatment.

 

Expert Perspective and Clinical Access

Professor Min Zhou stated:“Research related to this stem cell therapy has been published in top-tier international journals and has been approved for clinical translation in the Boao Lecheng Pilot Zone in Hainan. The approval process was extremely rigorous, involving multiple rounds of expert defense, institutional review, and regulatory evaluation by the Hainan authorities. During implementation, the clinical team adheres to strict management protocols to maximize patient benefit while minimizing risk. The Ministry of Science and Technology places great emphasis on emerging stem cell therapies and hopes that continued research will bring new hope to patients with chronic respiratory diseases.”

Patients seeking treatment may consult the respiratory outpatient clinics at Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai or Ruijin Hospital (Hainan Campus) for evaluation and sample collection. The administration of airway basal stem cell therapy is performed at Ruijin Hospital (Hainan Campus).

 

Consultation contact:
Patients are encouraged to add the customer service WeChat account and submit medical examination reports for consultation. For inquiries, please contact Mr. Lu at +86 136-5161-3710  Medical reports may be submitted via below WeChat for preliminary consultation.

 

Address (Shanghai Ruijin Hospital):
197 Ruijin Second Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai

Address (Ruijin Hospital, Hainan Campus):
197 Ruijin Road (formerly Helu Road), Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, Qionghai, Hainan Province (North Gate)

 

With the successful completion of the first patient dosing procedure, this cutting-edge lung stem cell therapy has now officially been implemented at Ruijin Hospital (Hainan Campus). It offers a new therapeutic option for patients with chronic lung diseases in China and worldwide, with the potential to significantly improve clinical outcomes and quality of life.