India Achieves Major Healthcare Milestone with World’s First Humanized CAR-T Therapy

NEW DELHI, November 5 — India has achieved a major scientific breakthrough with the launch of NexCAR19, the world’s first humanized CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell) therapy. The Ministry of Science and Technology announced today that the indigenously developed treatment makes advanced gene-based cancer therapeutics both affordable and accessible without compromising on quality or patient safety.

NexCAR19, often dubbed India’s first “living drug,” is a prescription therapy for patients battling relapsed or refractory B-cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia—cancers where frontline or standard treatments have failed. The therapy, which uses a lentiviral vector for gene modification, was developed by ImmunoACT, a gene therapy company incubated at IIT Bombay.

The Ministry emphasized that NexCAR19 represents a commitment to self-reliant healthcare innovation, stating: “NexCAR19, India’s first living drug, has made gene therapies both affordable and accessible without compromising scientific rigour or patient safety.”

Unveiling at the ESTIC2025 Conclave

NexCAR19 was among three groundbreaking national innovations unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ongoing ESTIC2025 Conclave in New Delhi. The launch aligns with India’s push into frontier technologies, which also included the unveiling of QSIP, India’s first quantum security chip, and a 25-qubit quantum computing processor.

CAR-T therapy is globally recognized as a revolutionary approach to cancer treatment. It involves extracting a patient’s own T-cells and reprogramming them in a lab to specifically target and destroy cancer cells upon reinfusion. Clinical trials worldwide have demonstrated remarkable success in end-stage cancer patients.

Scaling Up Production and Affordability

To ensure broad access and enhance affordability, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has provided crucial support and funding to ImmunoACT under its Biomanufacturing initiative (BioE3 Policy). This funding has been directed toward establishing a large-scale 200-liter GMP-grade lentiviral vector and plasmid manufacturing platform.

Equipped with advanced bioreactor technology, this new facility is expected to support gene therapy treatment for up to 1,000 patients annually.

Amid rising cancer incidences across the nation, the DBT is also actively advancing research to develop next-generation CAR-T therapeutics for both liquid and solid tumors, including Multiple Myeloma, Glioblastoma, and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, while simultaneously addressing associated toxicities.

The Ministry concluded that these efforts signal India’s commitment to self-reliant healthcare, paving the way for cutting-edge, affordable cancer treatments developed entirely on home soil.