Command Hospital Kolkata administers indigenous CAR-T therapy to soldier

Command Hospital (Eastern Command) in Kolkata has successfully administered NexCAR19, India’s first indigenous CAR-T cell therapy, to a 39-year-old serving soldier. The patient was being treated for relapsed or refractory B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (B-cell ALL).

NexCAR19 was developed through a collaboration between IIT Bombay, Tata Memorial Centre, and the biotechnology start-up ImmunoACT. The therapy works by collecting a patient’s own T-cells and genetically reprogramming them with Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs) to identify and destroy cancer cells expressing the CD19 protein.

Unlike some existing treatments, NexCAR19 utilizes a humanised product configuration rather than mouse-derived components, which is associated with a lower risk of severe neurological side effects. The therapy is designed to be more affordable and accessible, costing approximately one-tenth of comparable treatments found in Western countries. Command Hospitals across India are among the institutions authorized to administer this treatment.