{"id":592090,"date":"2025-11-25T04:19:20","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T04:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/592090\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T04:19:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T04:19:20","slug":"next-generation-treatment-to-cure-leukaemia-given-nhs-approval-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/592090\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Next generation\u2019 treatment to cure leukaemia given NHS approval"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obe-cel is\u00a0a type of CAR T-cell\u00a0therapy developed in the UK and works by genetically modifying cells to enable the body\u2019s own immune system to recognise and attack cancer.<\/p>\n

The therapy, which only needs to be given once in a lifetime, was developed by Autolus, a University College London (UCL) spinout company.<\/p>\n

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has recommended obe-cel (also called Aucatzyl) in England for people aged 26 and over.<\/p>\n

\"LeukaemiaOperators transferring patient starting material, obtained through a process called leukapheresis, to begin the manufacturing process at Autolus\u2019 Nucleus site in Stevenage (Autolus\/PA)<\/p>\n

The watchdog said the treatment could help more than 150 people over the next the three years who have relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), all with limited treatment options.<\/p>\n

Obe-cel increases the likelihood of people going into remission and has fewer side-effects, meaning more people could benefit from it compared to other treatments.<\/p>\n

Evidence from a clinical trial has shown high rates of remission in patients whose cancer has either returned (relapsed) after treatment or failed to respond to initial therapy (refractory).<\/p>\n

A study of 94 people found that 77% given the treatment went into remission.<\/p>\n

More than half of those were then showing no signs of detectable cancer after three and a half years.<\/p>\n

Another CAR T-cell treatment is available for people aged 25 and under.<\/p>\n

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is a rare blood cancer, affecting fewer than five in 10,000 people in the UK.<\/p>\n

Helen Knight, director of medicines evaluation, at Nice, said the treatment \u201coffers real hope to people living with this rare and aggressive blood cancer\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThis drug has the potential to offer a more effective and less toxic alternative to standard treatments, with fewer side-effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis could potentially be a life-saving drug, which will make a huge difference to people\u2019s lives, including spending less time in hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OperatorsThe therapy was developed by Autolus, a University College London spinout company (Autolus\/PA)<\/p>\n

Dr Claire Roddie, UCL Hospital consultant haematologist and associate professor at the UCL Cancer Institute, said: \u201cI am delighted to hear of Nice\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany more patients now stand to benefit from this CAR T-cell therapy on the NHS and we are still working to widen its application.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking on proving the safety and efficacy of this drug has brought together clinical and research teams from UCL and UCLH, with support from government and arms-length bodies like the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Biomedical Research Centre as well as the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe many people involved in this work can feel immensely proud of this achievement, which will help save the lives of many more patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

People receive two doses of the CAR T-cell treatment therapy intravenously, 10 days apart, with the treatment being delivered at selected specialist CAR T-cell centres across England.<\/p>\n

Professor Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said: \u201cThis cutting-edge therapy has shown real promise in trials and could give patients with this aggressive form of leukaemia a chance to live free from cancer for longer \u2013 and, for some, it could offer the hope of a cure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis \u2018living medicine\u2019 boosts a patient\u2019s own immune system and then guides T-cells towards the cancer to kill it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is fantastic to have another pioneering option available on the NHS, adding to our range of CAR T-cell therapies which are helping people with blood cancers live longer, healthier lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HarryHarry Brown was treated with Obe-cel as part of a clinical trial in 2024 (Family handout\/NHS England\/PA)<\/p>\n

Harry, a 19-year-old student from Harrogate, was treated with Obe-cel as part of a clinical trial in 2024.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cI feel so lucky to have had access to such a wonderous treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only did it work better than my doctors thought it would, it worked without many of the horrible side-effects you can get from other treatments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing it offers is hope. When you\u2019re facing a situation like mine, hope is the most valuable thing you can have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HarryHarry says the treatment offers hope (Family handout\/NHS England\/PA)<\/p>\n

Health minister, Ashley Dalton, said: \u201cThis pioneering treatment is excellent news for patients and their families, demonstrating how the NHS is at the forefront of medical innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiona Bride, interim chief commercial officer at NHS England, said the treatment represented \u201ca success story that\u2019s made in Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fiona Hazell, chief executive at Leukaemia UK, said: \u201cWe are delighted that this therapy will be available on the NHS and this is a significant step forward in expanding treatment options for people living with leukaemia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Obe-cel is\u00a0a type of CAR T-cell\u00a0therapy developed in the UK and works by genetically modifying cells to enable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-592090","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115608419264701207","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}