NEW DELHI: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday launched India’s first indigenously-developed CAR T-cell therapy for cancer treatment and described it as a “major breakthrough” that
will give a new hope for humankind in the battle against the disease. NexCAR19 CAR T-cell therapy is the country’s first ‘Made in India’ cell therapy, which will significantly lower the cost of cancer treatment.
“This therapy is also an example of the Make in India initiative and speaks volumes about Indian scientists and physicians,” Murmu said.
Developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and the Tata Memorial Centre, this gene-based therapy will help cure different types of cancer. “The launch of India’s first gene therapy is a major breakthrough in our battle against cancer. As this line of treatment is accessible and affordable, it provides a new hope for the whole of humankind,” she said.
India reported more than 14 lakh new cancer cases and over 9 lakh deaths due to the disease in 2022, and breast cancer was the most common among women, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Breast and cervix cancers were the most frequent ones among Indian women, making up close to 27 and 18 per cent of the new cases. Among men cancers of lip, oral cavity, and lung were the most common ones, accounting for 15.6 and 8.5 per cent of the new cases, said the recent report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the cancer arm of WHO.
The Director of the Tata Memorial Centre, Sudeep Gupta, said the CAR T-cell therapy is an enormously expensive treatment that is out of the reach of an overwhelming majority of people.
“NexCAR19 has been rolled out at approximately one-tenth of the price at which it is available outside India,” he said.
IIT Bombay Director Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri said the treatment costs approximately Rs 4 crore abroad.
The low-cost CAR T-cell therapy is a huge achievement for our country and cancer patients in India, and it places India firmly on the global map of cell and gene therapy, he said.
Gupta said the creation and rollout of NexCAR19 is a historic milestone in the field of cancer care and genetic engineering.
“This treatment is not only a scientific achievement of the highest order but also has immense practical application. NexCAR19 will save many, many lives and wipe many, many tears,” he added. It is calculated that the number of people alive within 5 years following a cancer diagnosis was nearly 32.6 lakhs in India.