Shanghai, March 18th (By Chen Jing, Chen Qingren, Xiao Xin) - It was revealed on March 18th that Professor Qian Qijun, the director of the Shanghai Institute of Cell Therapy, has been appointed as an editorial consultant for the prestigious medical journal The Lancet after passing its qualification review. Currently, The Lancet has a total of 81 editorial consultants worldwide, with only 3 of them being Chinese scholars.
Professor Qian Qijun expressed his honor at this appointment, stating, "Being selected as an editorial consultant for The Lancet is a great recognition of my previous research efforts. The Lancet is internationally renowned in the medical field, and many Chinese scholars have published significant papers in the journal. I hope to enhance the research strength in the field of cell therapy in Shanghai by collaborating closely with outstanding international medical scientists."
Established in 1823, The Lancet is one of the world's leading comprehensive medical journals and is considered a reliable source of clinical, public health, and global health knowledge. In April 2005, The Lancet established the position of editorial consultant with the aim of continuously building an international advisory group. Editorial consultants are tasked with peer reviewing articles for The Lancet, recommending other reviewers, suggesting topics for discussion, or writing and publishing topics themselves.
It is understood that Professor Qian Qijun, a protege of "the Father of Hepatobiliary Surgery in China" and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wu Mengchao, has been dedicated to advancing breakthroughs in the field of cell and gene therapy to promote the development of "efficacious and accessible" disruptive therapeutic solid tumor products. In 1999, Professor Qian Qijun proposed a tumor gene-virus therapy scheme: inserting anti-cancer genes into oncolytic viruses to allow for massive replication and expression of the anti-cancer genes within tumors, achieving excellent synergistic anti-cancer effects and realizing a therapeutic efficacy greater than the sum of its parts.
In 2004, Professor Qian Qijun pioneered the concept of full-length antibody gene therapy, constructing recombinant viruses capable of efficiently expressing antibodies to enhance anti-tumor efficacy. In 2010, he proposed the concept of antibody-armored immune cells. In 2013, Professor Qian Qijun led the establishment of the Shanghai Cell Therapy Group, which successively developed the new generation non-viral vector JL gene writing system, the nanobody artificial intelligence screening platform VHHMAb?, breaking through key international challenges facing antibody-armored immune cells and achieving high-level expression of antibodies by T cells.
In 2019, the Shanghai Cell Therapy Group took the lead in promoting non-viral vector CAR-T therapy in China and obtained approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to enter phase I/II clinical trials. In 2023, related CAR-T drugs obtained permission to enter phase I/II clinical trials in China and were granted orphan drug designation by the US FDA. Professor Qian Qijun introduced that as of March this year, one patient has achieved sustained complete remission for over 38 months, bringing hope of cure to solid tumor treatment.
Breakthroughs in underlying technologies have promoted innovation in production processes. In 2023, the Shanghai Cell Therapy Group developed the ultra-fast CAR-T technology platform, reducing the CAR-T preparation cycle from 11 days to 30 hours, with further reductions planned to 6 hours in the future; the clinical infusion dose was reduced to 1/20 of the traditional dose, or even lower. It is revealed that currently, CAR-T drugs are undergoing phase I/II clinical studies for solid tumor treatment, greatly improving efficacy and reducing production costs.
Professor Qian Qijun currently serves as the director of the Shanghai Institute of Cell Therapy, vice dean of the Shanghai University School of Medicine, director of the Shanghai University Institute of Cell Therapy Innovation, chairman and CEO of the Shanghai Cell Therapy Group, and director of the Shanghai Cell Therapy Engineering Technology Research Center, among other positions. Previously, after multiple rounds of rigorous academic evaluations and selection procedures, Professor Qian Qijun was awarded the Max von Pettenkofer Medal by the European Academy of Sciences and was elected as a foreign member of the European Academy of Sciences in January of this year.
(Original title: Chinese Medical Expert Appointed as Editorial Consultant for The Lancet to Enhance Research Strength in Cell Therapy Field)
