In a landmark achievement for cancer treatment in India, researchers at the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, have successfully developed and administered CAR-T cell therapy at a significantly reduced costāright within the hospital setting.
The trial, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), cut costs by nearly 90% compared to global standards and reduced production time to just nine days.
This is the first time CAR-T cells have been manufactured and infused entirely in an Indian hospital.
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CAR-T therapy (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapy) involves modifying a patientās own immune T cells to recognise and destroy cancer cells. This process usually involves inserting in the normal T cells the required genetic information to produce an antibody receptor that will recognise the antigen or substance on the cancer cell’s surface.
āThis process is usually done in large, centralised commercial corporations, which contributes to logistic challenges, increased costs, and decreased efficacy,ā CMC Vellore director and principal author of the study, Dr. Vikram Mathews, said.
Under the trial, 10 patients aged 6 to 59 ā six with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and four with large B-cell lymphoma ā were treated with CAR-T cells manufactured at CMC Vellore. All patients had failed previous treatments.
According to the study, the treatment led to 100% remission in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases and 50% remission in large B-cell lymphoma cases. Overall, eight of ten patients were still cancer-free after a median follow-up of 15 months. Dr Mathews said that the use of a fresh, unfrozen product also contributed to better outcomes.
“This trial redefines how cancer therapy can be delivered ā efficiently, affordably, and close to patients. India is leading the way in developing next-generation, in-house biotherapies with global relevance,” Dr Mathews said, adding that the model can be replicated in tertiary care centers across India.
The study titled āSafety, efficacy and total cost of point-of-care manufactured anti-CD19 CAR-T cell therapy in India: VELCART trial has been published in the journal Molecular Therapy.
