Hope beckons as blood cancer therapy launched

OFFERING new hope to patients facing aggressive blood cancers, India launched the first global CAR T-cell therapy for adult B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (B-NHL), a kind of blood cancer that affects the lymphatic system.

- Kavita Bajeli-Datt @ New Delhi

Qartemi uses genetically modified T-cells to fight cancer. It was launched by Immuneel Therapeutics, India's leading cell and gene therapy start-up, backed by Indian billionaire entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

India faces a rising burden of blood cancers, with around 120,000 new cases and over 70,000 deaths annually from leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. The country annually reports approximately 40,000 new cases of NHL. In NHL, these lymphocytes grow and multiply, forming tumors in the lymph nodes and potentially spreading to other parts of the body.