India Struggles to Make Advanced Cancer Treatment Accessible

India remains behind other countries when it comes to offering affordable CAR T-cell therapy although this treatment uses modified immune cells to fight cancer effectively. In 2017 the United States permitted CAR T-cell therapy yet both China approved their version in 2021 and India has no domestic production of this vital cancer treatment as of now.

Doctors use CAR T-cell therapy to change immune cells so they hunt for cancer cells the body usually misses. Healthcare specialists collect patient T-cells and then alter them to use them against cancer at the body’s target sites. Customized cancer therapy works well against blood diseases but India has no way to make it affordable because the country needs local production facilities.

The imported therapy costs from 3 million to 4 million rupees which makes it affordable only to a small group of patients in India. Medical professionals support creating research labs and quality standards to produce this treatment at home which may deliver 60-70% savings. Many Indian patients with cancer still need to wait because this advanced therapy remains expensive enough that they cannot use it.