Make cell and gene therapy more affordable: PSA tells experts

Time of India

03-07-2025

BENGALURU: As innovations in cell and gene therapies have taken root in India, Ajay K Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor, Govt of India, reminded scientists and innovators in Bengaluru, on Thursday, that efforts should be made to make these therapies affordable.
The govt is also looking at a national mission that drives this affordability.
Talking to experts at the India AMR innovation workshop at CCAMP in Bengaluru, Sood said, "Very often we see cell and gene therapies, which all of you are experts in, and if you look at the cost, that is really something which is not affordable in most countries — even in other developed countries. If you have to really make these therapies accessible, a large effort is needed.
Innovations are taking place in isolated pockets, but the effort has to be amplified.
"
Sood, who also chairs the Prime Minister Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council, told TOI: 'Cell and gene therapy was discussed extensively in the recent meeting where we bring out various issues which have to be raised to the level of a mission.
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We all felt it has to be a multi-ministerial effort, and we will need resources for that — it will be made into a mission — 'a cell and gene therapy mission'.
The idea is how do we really make affordable cell and gene therapy products. While research is going on in a few labs and institutes, lots has to be done to take it to the market.'
He added, 'First, you need the science and technology to make those molecules. After that, it has to be at scale to bring down the cost. One needs a holistic view that they are not only doing it for the country but for the globe. Both things have to go hand in hand.'
'We have to create a way to make our own chemicals. Unless we make that, we cannot reduce the cost. So that has to be, that is what is being done in this, at least in the IIT Bombay, and we will do in the mission,' he said.
He added that therapy like 'ImmunoACT (the CAR-T cell therapy) is heavily supported by govt with initial funding from DBT, ICMR, and DST. How they take it to further reduce the cost is where all the private factors will come in, and they are already coming in.'
Quantum Computing in drug discovery
Meanwhile, Sood also believed that one can't avoid the use of quantum computing in biological sciences — "Billions of dollars are pouring in on drug discovery using quantum computing. That will be a game changer because all those huge permutation combinations will be so trivially done in quantum computing. This is really the future along with materials discovery and so on.'
Antimicrobial resistance
Talking about antimicrobial resistance being a prevalent issue, Ekroop Caur, Secretary, IT, BT, ST department, said, "Even though we may not take antibiotics or we may not misuse antibiotics, we are still affected by it — because what happens in the animal world and plant world will have an impact on us.
This also calls for very strong pharmaceutical regulations, which is part of Karnataka's AMR action plan formulated in 2024."
Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and Director, CCAMP, pointed out the risk of nearly 10 million people dying annually from AMR — "I don't think one can step back and say we will look at it when it happens. I think collectively all of us are here to say how much I can take down from the 10 million.'