AstraZeneca India has announced the launch of the initiative 'Project Chariot' to help diagnose and treat patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) in India.

The company has formed a first strategic partnership with Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute (RGCI) to help roll out the programme across North India and the Delhi NCR region.

Through this initiative, AstraZeneca aims to help identify and support CLL reference laboratories (CRLs) in strategic locations across India and connect peripheral hospitals with their closest CRL so that patients combatting the disease can avail themselves the necessary FISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization) panel and IgHV test, and expand the test access to CLL patients throughout the country. 

Project Chariot does not aim to redefine the current CLL treatment protocol but to help identify HR CLL patients by providing better and more comprehensive test access to these patients and consequently improving their treatment outcomes.