When Dr Arora was diagnosed with
non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2022, she crossed overnight from a practising doctor
to a patient. Her recovery with ImmunoACT’s indigenous CAR-T therapy now sits at the intersection of medicine and markets, drawing
interest in whether
an Indian company
can sustainably manufacture, price, and scale one
of the world’s
most complex cancer
treatments.
Two years after its commercial launch, ImmunoACT’s NexCAR19 has been administered
to more than
600 patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (r/r
ALL) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). The therapy is priced at a fraction of
the ₹4–10 crore range typically
associated with imported CAR-T products, a differential that directly
shapes access in India’s largely
self-pay oncology market.
CAR-T, in simple terms, is a personalised treatment
in which a patient’s
own immune T- cells are genetically modified to recognise and kill cancer cells, then infused back into
the body. Following
Dr Arora’s diagnosis in 2022, she was first treated at Rajiv Gandhi
Cancer Institute. Standard therapies initially worked, but she later relapsed.
That clinical setback led her to Tata Memorial Hospital, one of the apex centres in India equipped
to deliver cell and gene therapies. At Tata Memorial, Dr Arora received
NexCAR19 under a specialist team. Over the following months, she recovered and eventually
returned to medical practice. Individual outcomes vary, but such recoveries
feed into a larger debate on whether
CAR-T can move beyond “last-resort” use if durability holds up over
time.
ImmunoACT’s NexCAR19
holds a US patent as the world’s first humanised CAR-T therapy, a design choice that the company says may reduce severe side effects
such as cytokine
release syndrome (CRS) and immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome
(ICANS). Durability of response is also emerging as a key metric. Patients like Dr Arora,
who have remained in complete
remission for more than
two years after infusion,
suggest the therapy may deliver sustained
benefit. In CAR-T globally, long-term remission is what ultimately
justifies both the clinical risk and the upfront cost.
“Relapse felt like the ground
slipping beneath my feet. But receiving timely CAR-T treatment gave me another chance—not just to live, but to return to the
life I love. I stand here as proof that relapse is not the end; it can be a new beginning. Post-CAR-T treatment, I have
been cancer-free for more than two and a half years and have
resumed my clinical practice and family life,” Dr Arora shared with our team.
A treating
clinician at Tata Memorial Hospital added: “Stories like Dr Arora’s reflect how
far cell and gene therapy
has progressed. At Tata Memorial Hospital, we have witnessed
many similar successes with indigenous CAR-T therapy, where patients have remained
disease-free for extended
periods. This marks a real turning point in the treatment of difficult blood
cancers.”
From an economics and manufacturing standpoint, the affordability narrative rests on
domestic production. ImmunoACT’s NexCAR19 is fully manufactured in India, avoiding
the cost and time associated with shipping patient cells overseas or
importing raw materials or the finished product. The company cites what it describes as best-in-the-
world control over manufacturing success rates, logistics, and a turnaround time of around 17–20 days.
Policy and payor support
will be critical
for wider uptake
of CAR-T therapies
in India, where most patients continue
to fund treatment out of pocket, with limited private insurance
coverage and uneven reimbursement from state schemes.
To ease this access barrier, ImmunoACT has launched ‘The Hope
Initiative’ in partnership with Mango Sciences, offering two patient-support programmes—Bridge Financing and Value-Based
Pricing. The Bridge Financing
programme provides a ₹10 lakh loan at 0% interest EMIs to address
cash-flow constraints during treatment, while the Value-Based Pricing programme offers a rebate on the
overall cost if a patient relapses within 12
months. The company recently announced the
onboarding of its first patient under ‘The Hope Initiative’ on World Cancer
Day via its social media
channels.
Dr Arora’s journey is more than a personal
victory—it is a glimpse into the future of cancer care in India, where innovation, accessibility, and human resilience come together to offer
patients something priceless: a real second chance at life. For the industry, regulators, and investors, what to watch next are
longer-term efficacy results, transparent disclosures on safety data and patient
profiles, and whether
insurers or government payors move to formally
reimburse CAR-T therapies in India.