Emerging Leader in Cell & Gene Therapy

STARTUP OF THE YEAR 2024 - ImmunoACT

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Spun-out from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) in 2018, ImmunoACT is India's pioneer in the development of the country's first indigenous Cell & Gene Therapy. Dr Rahul Purwar and Dr Atharva Karulkar started ImmunoACT with a mission to provide affordable access to novel autologous Chimeric antigen receptor or CAR-T cell therapies.

Both the founders were well aware that despite the expanding burden of cancer in India, many new cancer treatments are inaccessible because of their high cost and the general lack of insurance coverage among people in India. In addition, some treatments, including CAR T-cell therapy, can cause severe side effects that must be treated in a hospital, further driving up the costs of treatment and requiring access to a nearby hospital.

A significant push in their entrepreneurial journey came in 2017 when the first CAR-T cells were approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA). But the huge cost associated with it, i.e. approx. Rs 3-4 crore per patient, emerged as a huge challenge. Thereafter, Dr Rahul Purwar and his team set out their plans to develop an affordable treatment option i.e. Made in India and Made for India.

However, a roadblock for Dr Purwar's team was the lack of a precedent in India, without any reference, background material or techniques. Thus, they relied solely on papers published by companies and universities in the US, trying to understand and replicate their efforts.