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New Delhi : In a historic leap for India’s biotechnology and cancer care landscape, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unveiled the country’s first indigenous CAR-T Cell Therapy — NexCAR19, developed by ImmunoACT, an IIT Bombay spin-off. The innovation, supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), was presented during the Emerging Science, Technology & Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2025 in Delhi.
The Prime Minister presented three transformative innovations to the nation — QSIP, India’s own quantum security chip; 25-qubit QPU, India’s first quantum computing chip; and NexCAR19, the country’s first indigenous CAR-T cell therapy. Among these, NexCAR19 stands out as the world’s first humanised CAR-T therapy developed in India, a groundbreaking example of innovation that is truly “Made in India, for the world.” The project was supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
CAR-T cell therapy, a cutting-edge form of immunotherapy, reprograms a patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer. It has shown remarkable success in treating blood cancers such as Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL), particularly in patients with limited treatment options.
NexCAR19 represents India’s first “living drug,” designed to make gene therapies affordable and accessible while maintaining global standards of safety and scientific rigor. Clinical trials conducted at the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) have shown promising results, underscoring the therapy’s potential to transform cancer treatment in India.
ImmunoACT emerged from the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay’s technology business incubator, and received early-stage support under BIRAC’s BioNest initiative — including funding, mentorship, and access to advanced research infrastructure.
In 2021, the TMC–IIT Bombay team initiated the first CAR-T clinical trials at ACTREC, Tata Memorial Hospital, partially supported by DBT and BIRAC through the National Biopharma Mission. These trials, focusing on pediatric patients with leukemia, are ongoing with ImmunoACT serving as the manufacturing partner.
Recently, under DBT’s Biomanufacturing initiative within the BioE3 Policy, funding was provided to ImmunoACT to establish a 200L GMP lentiviral vector and plasmid production platform. This will enable large-scale, high-quality production using advanced bioreactor technologies — helping manufacture gene delivery vectors for up to 1,000 patients annually.
DBT is actively promoting both early and late-stage translational research in CAR-T and other immunotherapies. The goal is to build indigenous solutions for a broad range of cancers, including multiple myeloma, relapsed or refractory B-cell leukemia, and glioblastoma, while also addressing challenges such as therapy-related toxicities.
With NexCAR19, India now joins a select group of nations developing advanced cell and gene therapies, demonstrating the country’s growing capacity to deliver cutting-edge, affordable cancer care and paving the way for a new era in biotech innovation and self-reliance.
