Cost and access drive international patients to India for CAR-T therapy

CAR-T

Trade

• Watchlist
• Portfolio
• Message
• Set Alert

 

 

Choose Stock Exchange: BSE LIVE NSE LIVE

26 Aug, 2025 12:21

Volume

Todays L/H

More

×

Cancer patients from countries in Gulf, Europe and Africa are making beeline to seek advanced CAR-T cell therapy in India, as most of these countries doesn't still have access to the treatment, even if available the cost of therapy remains prohibitively expensive.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) therapy harnesses a patient's T-cell or immune cells to target and eliminate cancer, offering a new paradigm for treating aggressive blood cancers when other treatments like chemotherapy have not been effective, including cases of relapsed or refractory leukaemia and lymphoma. The therapy is a highly complex and personalized requiring specialized medical centres with expertise in cell therapy and managing side effects.

Neelam Choudhary, founder and CEO of the Pune-based Lyfsum, a medical value travel facilitator company said they have been getting enquiries from blood cancer patients from countries like UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Kenya among others, following a digital campaign the company ran for blood cancer treatments.

"I learned about CAR-T therapy a few months ago, and in the last three weeks, we have already created a pipeline of 50-plus patients from UAE and Kenya alone," Choudhary said.

Choudhary says the exorbitant cost and lack of access to the CAR-T therapy in their home countries, is making patients to look at India.

CAR-T therapy costs about Rs 50 lakh in India including hospital fees, much less than the Rs 3-4 crore or more (before hospital fees) in US, Germany, Spain, UK, Italy and France. The cost is over Rs 1 crore in China, which emerged as major centre for CAR-T therapy.

"We have received 70% of patients for leukaemia and followed by lymphoma, myeloma, and sickle cell anaemia. We have seen a significant increase of number of patients, especially for leukaemia in the UAE and some parts of Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain," she said.

Chaudhary said the patients were both insurance and out-of-pocket types.

Lyfsum acts as a bridge between patients and healthcare providers, handling logistics like travel arrangements, accommodation, and communication with hospitals and doctors. For CAR-T therapy it is working with Apollo Hospitals (Jubilee Hills) in Hyderabad, Manipal Hospitals in Bengaluru and Max Healthcare (Patparganj hospital) in Delhi, who are offering the therapy.

"We are getting enquiries from abroad including Europe for our CAR-T cell therapy," said Shirish Arya, Director of Corporate Strategy & Business Development of ImmunoACT - IIT-Bombay incubated company which developed and launched the first indigenous CAR-T therapy in India.

ImmunoACT's CAR-T therapy was so far given to 300 patients.

India has approved two CAR-T therapies NexCAR19 of ImmunoACT in October 2023 and Qartemi in January 2025 of Immuneel Therapeutics (co-founded by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw). Both CAR-T cell therapies approved in India for treating blood cancers, targeting CD19. Qartemi is specifically designed for B-cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (B-NHL), while NexCAR19 is approved for a broader range of B-cell cancers like B-cell lymphomas and B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-ALL).

India has emerged as a major hub of medical tourism with quality high end care available at affordable costs.

Chaudhary of Lyfsum stresses on need for Indian hospitals to empanel with insurance providers or payors of these countries, to be able to attract more patients.

Not all are enthused at the prospect of foreign patients getting the therapy, when most Indians can't afford it.

"Even Rs 30-40 lakh price is exorbitant for most Indians, we should prioritise them," said senior oncologist, who didn't want to be named.

Blood cancers (including lymphoma, leukaemia, and myeloma) account for about 8% of all new cancer cases diagnosed in India. India ranks third highest globally in reported blood cancer cases, after the US and China, affecting over 70,000 people annually.