Laurus Labs acquires stake in IIT-Bombay incubated CAR-T cell therapy company

Laurus Labs on Friday said it has signed an agreement to invest in Immunoadoptive Cell Therapy Private Limited (ImmunoACT), that's developing an indigenous CAR T-cell therapy for cure of specific types of blood cancers.

As per the agreement, Laurus will acquire 26.62% stake (fully diluted basis) for a cash consideration of approximately Rs 46 crores, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions.

Additionally, the senior management of Laurus Labs would also invest in ImmunoACT for a 5.64% stake for approximately Rs. 9.75 crore at the same price and terms.

ImmunoACT, an IIT-Bombay incubated company was founded in 2018 by Dr. Rahul Purwar and a team of scientists. The CAR-T therapy developed by ImmunoACT against certain blood cancers is currently in clinical trials in India.

ImmunoACT is collaborating with institutions like Tata Memorial Hospital. Dr Carl June, one of the pioneers in T-Cell therapies for the treatment of Cancer, is a member of its scientific advisory board.

In CAR T cell therapy a patient's own T-cell is drawn from the blood, isolated and genetically modified by adding a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). The modified T-Cell weaponised with CAR, is grown and injected back into the patient. The modified CAR-T cells target and kill cancer cells.

If the company achieves the breakthrough, it would be India’s first company to introduce the CAR T therapy, a cutting edge therapy which has been effective against certain types of blood cancer.
However, the treatment remained inaccessible to most patients due to its cost.

CAR-T therapy costs about $1 million - $1.5 million, including administration and hospitalisation costs in the US.

Novartis charges Kymriah - its CAR-T therapy about $475,000 for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

ALL is type of childhood blood cancer. Novartis guarantees refund of money if the therapy doesn’t work after one month. It charges $373,000 for adult Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) – another form of blood cancer.