P. D. Hinduja Hospital, Khar is set for a monumental leap in cancer care with the introduction of cutting-edge CAR-T cell therapy. One of the first hospitals in Mumbai to collaborate with startup ImmunoACT, P. D. Hinduja Hospital, Khar intends to herald in a new age of cancer care in Mumbai.

NexCAR19 (Actalycabtagene autoleucel) is India’s first indigenous gene-modified cell treatment for patients aged 15 and above with relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma and B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

It is a breakthrough therapy that modifies immune cells, particularly T-cells, transforming them into potent cancer fighters known as CAR-T cells. This therapy, which is a second generation humanised CAR-T cell therapy, is autologous (patient-specific), and targets the CD19 protein, a biomarker that is overexpressed in certain B-cell cancers.

This therapy is recommended for patients with B-cell lymphomas or B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia who have not responded to traditional therapies such as chemotherapy, resulting in a relapse or recurrence of cancer. Also called a living drug, the therapy gives considerable advantages and involves swift, single infusion treatment, improving the quality of life for many patients at almost one-tenth the cost commercially available worldwide.

Image caption- Gautam Khanna, CEO of P. D. Hinduja Hospital (left); and Shirish Arya, Co-founder & Director of Business Development and Corporate Strategy, ImmunoACT