MedTherapy Biotechnology, founded by leading cancer experts, aims to revolutionize cancer Gene Therapy by making it affordable and accessible to every patient.
Established in 2018 by a dedicated team from Harvard University, including members from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School, along with former Novartis executives, the company has pioneered next-generation gene therapy technologies. These innovations streamline the traditionally complex and costly manufacturing process, making it both efficient and economical.
Headquartered in Boston, USA, with an advanced technology base and global manufacturing facilities in New Delhi-NCR, India, MedTherapy combines cutting-edge expertise and a world-class team of excellence. Together, they are delivering life-saving cancer gene therapies to patients worldwide.
In an exclusive conversation with The Interview World, Dr. Sanjay Singh, Managing Director of MedTherapy Biotechnology, delves into the company’s groundbreaking healthcare products. Furthermore, he offers a deep dive into the strategies ensuring precision, the robust business model, and the thriving ecosystem driving their mission. Additionally, he shares a glimpse of the trailblazing innovations shaping the company’s future.
Here are the most compelling insights from this engaging discussion.
Q: Could you share MedTherapy Biotechnology’s current focus, past innovations, and details about launched products or solutions in the market?
A: MedTherapy Biotechnology, founded in Boston, harnesses next-generation technology to revolutionize cancer gene therapy and save lives. Currently, gene therapy products remain prohibitively expensive, often costing between half a million to several million dollars. This pricing makes them inaccessible to most patients. While their primary focus is cancer treatment, these therapies also show promise in addressing genetic disorders, cardiovascular conditions, central nervous system diseases, and more.
At MedTherapy, we are tackling this challenge head-on. With a technology hub in Boston, we are developing cutting-edge solutions to slash manufacturing costs by over >70%. This effort is part of our commitment to making gene therapy products both affordable and accessible. Simultaneously, we have established a robust manufacturing base in India, positioning the country as a global manufacturing hub of gene therapy. Our ultimate goal is to deliver these life-saving therapies to patients in India and across the world at a fraction of the current cost.
We are making rapid progress. One of our products, developed in partnership, has completed Phase 1 clinical trials in the U.S., and we are on the brink of initiating Phase 2 trials in India. Commercialization is within reach, and we are actively advancing this vision to transform global healthcare.
This is the transformative journey MedTherapy is charting, and we are closer than ever to realizing it.
Q: Have you secured a patent for this product?
A: We hold patents and have secured trademarks to protect our innovations. Guided by our esteemed advisors, we strategically decide what to disclose and what to safeguard. While some critical information is included in our patents, other details are deliberately kept confidential. This approach ensures a balance between transparency and maintaining a competitive edge.
Q: What accuracy measures do you consider to ensure your device aligns with real-world data sets during analysis and application?
A: In 2017, Novartis launched the first gene therapy product in the U.S., which later expanded globally. However, the high price—around half a million dollars—remains inaccessible for much of the developing world, including India, which accounts for >80%% of the global population.
Recognizing this gap, our team began working to drastically reduce costs. We aim to bring the price down from $500,000 to an affordable range, making it accessible to patients in developing countries. Beyond affordability, we are enhancing safety by addressing side effects like cytokine release syndrome (CRS). The next-generation product we are developing features a significantly improved safety profile.
We are also revolutionizing manufacturing efficiency. The current therapy requires a turnaround time of 3-4 weeks, with actual production taking around 2 weeks. In contrast, our technology compresses this timeline to just one week, with the manufacturing process completed in a mere 20 hours.
For cancer patients, every single day is critical. Our technology ensures the therapy is available when it’s needed the most, eliminating unnecessary delays that could cost lives. We are dedicated to delivering life-saving solutions swiftly and affordably, bridging the gap between innovation and accessibility.
Q: Can you explain the business model that drives your products and how it supports your overall strategy?
A: Our business strategy centers around launching our products in the Indian market. However, a significant constraint in today’s landscape is the limited global manufacturing capacity.
Manufacturing space is scarce, with only 10-15% of global capacity available. Companies seeking production slots often face long waiting periods, ranging from 18 to 24 months.
To address this, we are leveraging our capacities by offering manufacturing services to clients worldwide, including those from the US and Europe. We aim to capitalize on our existing capacity to meet this demand and position ourselves as a vital player in the market.
In addition to maximizing our manufacturing potential, we have developed a unique, differentiated product. This next-generation offering is unmatched in the industry—no other company has a comparable product in its pipeline.
Since the first CAR-T product launched in 2017, it has grown to seven approved products and an impressive pipeline of about 3,000 investigational products. This exponential growth highlights strategic success and forward momentum.
Q: Are you actively working on building the right ecosystem to support and enhance the impact of your products?
A: In our ecosystem, we actively collaborate with research institutions, corporates, and government bodies across the globe. We also engage with prestigious partners like Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, and leading institutions in the US, UK, Europe, and India
In India, we work closely with esteemed institutions such as the National Institute of Immunology, AIIMS,PGIMER, GIMS, ILBS, NIB, IGIB, and many more.
Our objective is to build and strengthen this ecosystem. Currently, India has limited presence and influence in this field. Our goal is to change that. We aim to create a robust network that will position India as a leading manufacturing hub for gene therapy. By fostering these partnerships and building a collaborative infrastructure, we can achieve significant advancements and global recognition in this domain
Q: What are your plans for developing additional innovations and expanding this therapy to address other diseases?
A: Cancer research is a major focus for us. We are not only concentrating on hematological cancers but also developing therapies for solid tumors. This is an area of active global research, and we are committed to contributing to advancements that make treatments accessible for solid tumors such as breast cancer, glioma, and pancreatic cancer—types currently without effective therapies.
Beyond cancer, we are expanding our efforts to address genetic disorders, including rare diseases. Some approved treatments for these conditions have sky-high costs, often ranging between two to three million dollars. Such expenses make it nearly impossible for the Indian population or those in developing countries to afford these therapies. For example, asking someone to invest 25 crore rupees for treatment is an unimaginable burden, affecting only a tiny fraction of the population.
To address this challenge, we are committed to making these treatments more affordable. We aim to reduce the cost from millions of dollars to an affordable range, making life-saving therapies accessible to more people. We are dedicated to building this innovative, cost-effective technology.
