Immuneel imagines CAR Ts for India
Company plans to market CAR T therapy for $35,000, aims for lower cost in future
Immuneel started a trial last week in Bangalore that aims to open the doors for commercialization of CAR T therapies in India and transform the economics of cell therapy by shifting from a pharmaceutical industry business model to one based on hospital-based point-of-care service. Tolerance for lower profit margins, along with cost savings achieved by reducing manufacturing and transport costs, can, the company believes, bring CAR T costs to levels that make the therapy more widely accessible and allow it to be used in earlier stages of disease. The shift in business models could also make it easier to quickly iterate.
If successful, the IMAGINE trial of ARI-0001/IMN-003A could bring a proven CD-19 CAR-T cell therapy to the Indian market for $35,000, including hospital charges. That would be about 30-40-fold less expensive than the full cost of a CAR T therapy and hospital charges in the U.S. ...