CAR-T CELL THERAPY

CAR-T CELL THERAPY

Why in News

“India is now one of the fi rst developing countries to have its indigenous CAR-T and gene therapy 

platform.”

 CAR-T -modifi es immune cells, specifi cally T-cells, by turning them into potent cancer fi ghters 

known as CAR-T cells.T-cells are special cells (white blood cells that fi nd and fi ght illness and infection) whose primary 

function is cytotoxic, meaning it can kill other cells. 

 In CAR-T therapy, T - cells are modifi ed into cancer-fi ghting cells. These supercharged cells are then 

put back into the body, and they go after cancer cells — especially in blood cancers like leukaemia 

and lymphomas.

 It makes treatment easier with a one-time therapy [unlike several sessions of chemotherapy] that 

can be truly transformative [for a patient]. 

 The therapy is a life-line for people with B-cell lymphomas who didn’t respond to standard 

treatments like chemotherapy, leading to relapse or recurrence of the cancer.

 NexCar19 is a type of CAR-T and gene therapy developed indigenously in India by ImmunoACT, 

which is a company incubated at IIT Bombay. 

 Our therapy is designed to target cancer cells that carry the CD19 protein. This protein acts like a 

fl ag on cancer cells, which allows CAR-T cells to recognise and attach themselves to the cancer cells 

and start the process of elimination.

 The commercial use of this therapy was approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation 

(CDSCO) in October 2023. Currently, NexCAR19 is available in over 30 hospitals in more than 10 

cities in India. Patients over the age of 15 years who suff er from B-cell cancers are eligible for this.