India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved Qartemi, a CAR T-cell therapy developed by Immuneel Therapeutics, for the treatment of adult B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (B-NHL). This approval comes as a significant step in the country’s fight against aggressive blood cancers, introducing a globally validated immunotherapy to Indian patients.
About Qartemi:
- First International CAR T-cell Therapy in India:
- Licensed from Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (HCB), a leader in cell therapy innovations.
- Targets B-NHL, an aggressive and common form of blood cancer.
- Immuneel Therapeutics is a cell-and-gene therapy start-up backed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and US-based oncologist and author Dr Siddhartha Mukherjee.
- Cutting-Edge Technology:
- “Living drug”: A cellular therapy that uses the patient’s own modified immune cells (T cells) to combat cancer.
- The therapy involves collecting T cells from the patient, genetically modifying them to produce chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that target cancer cells, and infusing the modified cells back into the bloodstream.
- NexCAR19-India’s first homegrown CAR-T therapy
- NexCAR19 is the first homegrown CAR-T therapy developed by ImmunoACT in collaboration with Tata Memorial Centre, for leukemia and refractory lymphoma.
- The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu launched NexCAR19-India’s first home-grown gene therapy for cancer at IIT Bombay on April 4, 2024.
About CAR T-Cell Therapy:
- Mechanism:
- T cells, part of the immune system, are excellent at fighting diseases but struggle to differentiate cancer cells from healthy cells.
- Scientists modify T cells in labs to express CARs, proteins that can identify specific markers on cancer cells, enabling targeted attacks.
- These modified cells multiply in the lab before being reinfused into the patient.
- Advantages:
- Tailored specifically to the patient’s cancer.
- High precision and ability to target resistant or relapsed cancers.
- Applications:
- Effective against leukemia, lymphoma, and some other cancers.
- Available for both adults and children in specific cases.
(Source: The Print)
