In a revolutionary move, the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, launched India’s first ‘home-grown gene therapy’ for cancer at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on April 4, 2024. According to a press release, the President said the accessible and affordable CAR-T cell therapy ‘provides a new hope for the whole of humankind’. She also called it a ‘major breakthrough’ in India’s battle against cancer and said she was confident it would be successful in giving new lives to countless patients. “This is a praiseworthy example of academia-industry partnership, which should inspire many more similar efforts,” a tweet shared on the official ‘X’ handle of the President read.
President Droupadi Murmu launched India’s first home-grown gene therapy for cancer at IIT Bombay. The President said that as CAR-T cell therapy is accessible and affordable it provides a new hope for the whole of humankind. This is a praiseworthy example of academia-industry pic.twitter.com/uUANzOYFqy President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) April 4, 2024
“CAR-T cell therapy or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy and gene therapy. It requires complex genetic engineering to modify the patient’s immune cells, especially T cells, and make them fight cancer. CAR-T cell therapy is considered one of the most phenomenal advances in medical science. It has been available in developed nations for some time, but it is extremely costly and beyond the reach of most patients around the world. What is new about the therapy being launched today, as I understand it, is that it costs 90 percent less than what is available elsewhere. I am told this is the world’s most affordable CAR-T cell therapy,” Murmu said.
“Moreover, it is also an example of the ‘Make in India’ initiative; a shining example of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’,” she added.
For more: https://www.thehealthsite.com/