Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled three pioneering innovations that mark a new era in India’s scientific and technological advancement during the ongoing Emerging Science, Technology & Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2025. These include QSIP – India’s own quantum security chip, a 25-qubit QPU – the nation’s first quantum computing chip powering the future of computation, and CAR-T Cell Therapy – India’s first indigenous cancer cell therapy developed by Indian innovators.
Among these, NexCAR19, the world’s first humanised CAR-T therapy developed in India by ImmunoACT, stands out as a pathbreaking innovation truly “Made in India, for the World.” This groundbreaking therapy was supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).
The Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy represents a major breakthrough in cancer treatment, with global clinical trials showing encouraging results, particularly in end-stage patients suffering from Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). NexCAR19, India’s first living drug, has made gene therapy both affordable and accessible, maintaining the highest standards of scientific rigor and patient safety.
ImmunoACT, a spin-off from IIT Bombay, received crucial support from the BioNest initiative of BIRAC, including funding, mentorship, and incubation facilities at SINE (Society of Innovation and Entrepreneurship), IIT Bombay’s technology business incubator.
In 2021, the TMC-IIT Bombay team received partial support from DBT and BIRAC under the National Biopharma Mission for lentivirus manufacturing and clinical trials of India’s first CAR-T therapy at ACTREC, Tata Memorial Hospital. The ongoing NexCAR19 pediatric trial at Tata Memorial Centre continues with ImmunoACT as the manufacturing partner.
Recently, under the BioE3 Policy, DBT’s Biomanufacturing Initiative extended funding to ImmunoACT to establish a 200L GMP lentiviral vector and plasmid production platform. This will help scale up production, lower costs, and enhance efficiency through advanced bioreactor technologies, enabling high-density cell growth and continuous manufacturing. The GMP-grade gene delivery vector is expected to support treatments for up to 1,000 patients per year requiring cell and gene therapy.
Furthermore, DBT continues to promote early and late-stage translational research aimed at developing novel and indigenous CAR-T based therapeutics to tackle a wide range of cancers. These efforts focus on both liquid and solid tumors—including Multiple Myeloma, Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, refractory or relapsed B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, and glioblastoma—while also addressing therapy-associated toxicities through interdisciplinary research and innovation.