In a significant step forward for India’s cancer treatment, Immuneel Therapeutics has unveiled Qartemi, country’s first global CAR T-cell therapy for adult B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (B-NHL), a group of blood cancers.

A personalised therapy for adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-NHL, Immuneel, a Bengaluru-based cell and gene therapy startup, addresses a critical gap in India’s cancer immunotherapy landscape. This groundbreaking therapy, benchmarked to global standards, is now available locally, offering renewed hope to patients for whom conventional therapies including chemotherapy prove ineffective.

India faces a rising burden of blood cancers, with around 120,000 new cases and over 70,000 deaths annually from leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. Amidst the increasing incidence of blood cancer cases, Qartemi, a pioneering CAR T-cell therapy from Immuneel Therapeutics, stands as a lifeline, representing the need for advanced treatment in CAR-T therapy becomes increasingly critical. 

Immuneel initiated India’s first CAR T-cell therapy trial in 2022 for a novel autologous CD19 directed CAR T-cell therapy in patients with relapsed / refractory B cell malignancies. The IMAGINE trial was conducted across Narayana Hospital in Bengaluru, Apollo Cancer Hospital in Chennai and PGIMER in Chandigarh. The results from the IMAGINE trial showed that the efficacy and safety of Qartemi is similar to CAR T-cell therapies approved by the USFDA.

Immuneel’s IMAGINE Phase 2 trial achieved 83.3% ORR at Day+90, setting a new benchmark for CAR T-cell therapy in India

The startup has partnered with leading hospitals, including Narayana Health, Apollo Hospitals, CMC Vellore & Ludhiana, Manipal Hospitals, RGCIRC Delhi, SGPGI Lucknow, Amrita Hospital Faridabad, HOC Vedanta Ahmedabad, Cytecare Bangalore, Sparsh Bengaluru, Marengo Asia Hospitals among others, to provide Qartemi to their patients.