India Pharma Outlook Team | Monday, 28 July 2025
In a major leap for India's biotech industry, accessible CAR-T therapy has not only reached patients sooner than expected but has also become commercially viable.
ImmunoACT, the startup that created India's first indigenous CAR-T cell therapy, NexCAR19, has become profitable within one year of rollout.
NexCAR19 was approved in October 2023 for relapsed or refractory B-cell cancers, and has completely disrupted the oncology space by introducing a price point of ?30–40 lakh, or roughly a tenth of the cost as compared to worldwide CAR-T options. As affordable CAR-T therapy, NexCAR19 can give patients with limited choices a second chance at life and influence market conditions in a category representing high-value care.
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NexCAR19 was developed in collaboration with IIT Bombay and Tata Memorial Centre and is now deployed in more than 50 hospitals, treating approximately 30 patients per month. Clinical data have shown high remission rates with only minimal side effects, and reduced need for ICU admissions—71% remission for lymphoma and 84% remission for leukemia.
Another key aspect of this development is the ability to scale the process. ImmunoACT can manufacture the inputs required for the process in-house, which reduces reliance on high-cost imports and automation and also mitigates costs and maintains efficacy.
With India emerging as a global hub for life sciences technology development and innovation, NexCAR19's success shows that novel treatments such as affordable CAR-T therapy are not only scientifically possible but commercially valuable. This model may create additional locally manufactured, even lower-cost options in advanced therapeutics.
