Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client, September 6th (Lin Wansi, Yan Shuxin) Nowadays, I search the Internet for "stem cell anti-aging", and there are countless businesses claiming that they can provide "stem cell anti-aging" services. The curative effects range from beauty, anti-aging, and aphrodisiac. To improve immune function, fight cancer, and restore menstruation is all-encompassing, some businesses even promoted that "50 years old can have 30 years old performance."
Are these "stem cell anti-aging" priced at tens of thousands, or even millions, reliable?
It costs 1.56 million an hour and the menopause is delayed for 10 years?
Stem cells are a collective term for a type of cells with self-renewal and multiple differentiation potentials.
When the concept of stem cells was surging, many people took aim at "business opportunities" and became medical and aesthetic agents.
Recently, the Sino-Singapore Jingwei client interviewed several agents and learned that the currently popular mesenchymal stem cell reinfusion projects on the market charge between 50,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan, and the autoimmune cell reinfusion projects with lower prices are charged. The cost is 40,000-90,000 yuan, and the most expensive embryonic tissue stem cell reinfusion project charges hundreds of thousands.
Hu Hui, an agent from Hangzhou, stated that embryonic tissue stem cells were taken from aborted embryonic tissues at 8-12 weeks, and there was no rejection after entering the human body.
Consumers around the age of 50 are suitable for a package of 487,500 yuan. The older the age, the higher the price. The highest price is 1.56 million yuan, and the time for a stem cell reinfusion is about one hour.
Different stem cell reinfusion package prices provided by the agent
Hu Hui said that stem cells can improve menopausal symptoms and enhance sexual function. "Women restore menstruation and delay menopause, while men enhance physiological functions. Menopause can be delayed for up to 10 years, and 50-year-olds can have 30-year-old performance."
There is a big gap in quotes between different agents.
According to Hu Hui, the agent’s purchase price is 50% off the market guide price, and the market price set by the agents at all levels is not subject to interference. “We can only do higher, not lower.”
According to him, this line "is profitable even at a 20% discount."
"High-net-worth customers understand some stem cell knowledge. Ultimately, what they care about is not the price, but whether you have a good reserve of professional knowledge. If you do this well, your customer acquisition will be very simple. According to my personal ability, one year The sales of 20 to 30 million are no problem, and the profit is about 60%." Hu Hui said.
In addition to soliciting customers for upper-level agents, another agent method is to take stem cells at wholesale prices and then sell them at a higher price.
The agent Wu Sijie from Chengdu told the Sino-Singapore Jingwei client that if 5 courses of autoimmune cells are taken at one time, the wholesale price is 20,000 yuan for one course of treatment, and a customer of autoimmune cells only needs to do two courses of treatment a year, and one course of treatment is sold. 144,000 yuan, the agent can obtain a profit of 248,000 yuan from it.
Experts Secret: Some merchants use prescription drugs instead of stem cells, and the cost is only 100 yuan
After paying high fees, are the returned stem cells useful?
It is useless and may also increase additional risks.
Fang Hanqun, deputy director of the cell therapy and anti-aging professional academic group of the Cross-Strait Branch of the Chinese Plastic Surgery Association, told the Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client that according to clinical experience, stem cells will be resisted by the human immune system after being injected into the body, and may also be swallowed by the immune system 70%- 80%, and may lead to cytokine storms, such as vascular embolism, acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ failure and other fatal risks.
At the same time, Fang Hanqun said that if the conditions of the stem cell laboratory are not up to the requirements, it will cause the cells to derive bacteria, die, and even mutate, and may cultivate cancer-causing cells.
The Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client noticed that the stem cell storage conditions provided by the above agents did not meet the requirements.
According to Hu Hui, stem cells are stored in a liquid nitrogen environment to maintain their activity, and are returned to the body within 6 hours after resuscitation.
Wu Sijie said that the stem cells can be shipped by air and placed in a refrigerator at 2-8 degrees Celsius when they are received. They will expire after 24 hours.
An agent also said that the stem cells are usually stored in liquid nitrogen tanks, and the treated stem cells are still effective after being stored for 3 days, and they can be returned to the nurse.
"They (nurses) don't need to know stem cells, they just need to know how to get needles for infusions."
Fang Hanqun pointed out that the cell transportation environment should be around minus 30 degrees Celsius, and storage in the refrigerator for 24 hours is absolutely impossible. The storage technology using liquid nitrogen cylinders has long been outdated.
The storage conditions and pre-thawing and thawing must be operated by professionals in a certain environment and equipment.
Fang Hanqun introduced that stem cell laboratories have harsh conditions and need to meet the Good Manufacturing Practices (GTP), Good Laboratory Practices (GLP), International Pharmaceutical Inspection Agreement/Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices (PIC/S GMP) and other certifications. There are very few stem cell laboratories that meet this standard.
At present, more than 100 stem cell clinical research institutions, including the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University, Beijing Hospital, and the First Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-Sen University in China, have been filed with the National Medical Products Administration.
Because of the demanding technical requirements, no institution has the ability to carry out large-scale commercial production.
Experts pointed out that in the current market, what kind of cells are injected into consumers' bodies, how many survived, and where is the pricing basis. Medical institutions are just "seeing the food". Even if the input is only cell culture fluid plus chemicals, it is common People can't tell with the naked eye.
Lu Feng, the chief physician of the Plastic Surgery Surgery Department of Southern Hospital, wrote a frank article that it is doubtful whether there are any living stem cells in the so-called stem cell cosmetic needles and stem cell stock solutions.
"Stem cells are very delicate. In the laboratory, you must control the temperature, humidity, and use a specific culture medium to survive. It is difficult to create such an environment in a box of stem cell injections and a bottle of stem cell stock solution."
Fang Hanqun also revealed that some merchants will use lower-priced prescription drugs for the treatment of diseases related to hypoimmunity-Thymus, which is used as autoimmune stem cells. The cost of a dose is more than 100 yuan and the price is more than 100,000 yuan.
Promoting stem cell therapy anti-aging are false and illegal advertisements
In fact, as early as 2011, the National Medical Products Administration and the former Ministry of Health jointly carried out the rectification of stem cell clinical research and application standards, and stopped unapproved stem cell clinical research and application activities.
Data from the Drug Evaluation Center of the State Drug Administration also shows that the State Drug Administration has disclosed 47 implied licenses for clinical trials of stem cells. The indications include idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, chronic acute (subacute) liver failure, and transplantation. There is no such thing as "anti-aging" for substance-versus-host disease, and no stem cell drugs have been approved for marketing.
Screenshot of the Drug Evaluation Center of the National Medical Products Administration
What is clear is that the claims on the market for stem cell reinfusion for beauty and anti-aging are just gimmicks and even illegal.
A few days ago, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a document clearly stating that, apart from the clinical application and clinical research of individual diseases, stem cell therapy has neither relevant research nor clinical basis in anti-aging, anti-cancer, and beauty. It promotes anti-aging, anti-aging, and Anti-cancer, beauty and other advertisements are all false and illegal advertisements; regardless of whether it is a medical institution, it is also illegal to use stem cell therapy for anti-aging, anti-cancer, and beauty treatments.
According to China Court.com, in August 2020, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court publicly heard and pronounced a dispute over a stem cell sales contract. The second instance ruled that the stem cell sales contract involved in the case was invalid, and the stem cell seller Rongli Company returned the remaining amount obtained from the contract. Prepayments.
According to the current rules and regulations such as the "Administrative Measures for Stem Cell Clinical Research (Trial)", stem cells are not subject to transactions under national regulations, and any form of trading with stem cells as the subject will have invalid consequences.
The court held that Rongli did not provide evidence to prove that it has obtained approval from relevant departments for projects that require approval according to law, nor did it provide evidence to prove the clinical application of the stem cell line medical technology sold by the company, and its behavior of buying and selling stem cells is obviously It goes beyond its business fields and business scope, and violates the provisions of the "Pharmaceutical Administration Law of the People's Republic of China" and "Administrative Measures for Stem Cell Clinical Research (Trial)".
For healthy people, Fang Hanqun does not recommend anti-aging through infusion of stem cells. Anti-aging is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It must be done step by step, perseverance, and no shortcuts. “In the field of preventive medicine, nutrition is the key to treatment and the foundation of life. Therefore, the easiest way to prevent aging is to start with balanced nutrition."
(Hu Hui and Wu Sijie in the text are both pseudonyms) (China-Singapore Jingwei APP)
All rights reserved by Sino-Singapore Jingwei. Without written authorization, no unit or individual may reprint, extract or use it in other ways.