ImmunoACT turns profitable in year one selling an Indian CAR-T at about 90% less

A cell and gene therapy company that makes NexCAR19, a one-time CAR-T cancer infusion, in India.

That an indigenous CAR-T priced about 90% below Western rivals can reach enough patients to turn a profit quickly.

Laurus Labs holds roughly 34% equity; no round size is given in the article.

Immunologist Rahul Purwar founded ImmunoACT in 2013 after returning from research in the US and Germany, and it was spun off from IIT Bombay's bioengineering department in 2018. India's drug regulator approved NexCAR19 in October 2023.

NexCAR19 launched formally in April 2024 at about 90% below US and European CAR-T prices. By mid-2025 it had been infused in over 350 patients across 70 hospitals. Sources told ET it showed progression-free survival benefit around 40% in B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 60% in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

In FY25, its first full year of operations, ImmunoACT reported revenue of Rs 62 crore and profit before tax of Rs 12 crore, per sources. It appointed former Roche India managing director V. Simpson Emmanuel as strategic advisor to help scale, and faces new Indian CAR-T rivals including Immuneel, Cipla, Dr Reddy's and Bharat Biotech.

CAR-T therapies from Western firms were priced beyond most Indian patients.

India's regulator approved a homegrown therapy, allowing a local price far below imports.

Spin-off from IIT Bombay and Laurus Labs' stake gave it research and manufacturing backing.

Demand rose quickly: 350 patients across 70 hospitals within about 15 months of launch.

Pricing a hard-to-make therapy for the local market, not the Western one, can get a research startup to profit within a year of launch, and invites rivals quickly.

As of 28 July 2025 ImmunoACT reported a profit on Rs 62 crore of revenue, per sources, and had added a strategic advisor to scale internationally. It faces CAR-T competition from Immuneel and big Indian drugmakers. The company's own figures were not published in the article, and efficacy numbers come from sources.