Breakthrough immunotherapy treatment for leukaemia to be made available to NHS patients

A game-changing treatment developed by UCLB spinout venture Autolus will be made available to eligible NHS patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), following a decision by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence).

AUCATZYL® (obe-cel) has been approved for use in England for people aged 26 and over.

The CAR T-cell therapy works by reprogramming a patient’s T-cells to recognise and target the specific signature of their cancer. These cells are then returned to the body as ‘living medicine’.

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.

Dr. Anne Lane, CEO of UCLB, said: “Today’s decision is a breakthrough moment for people living with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and a landmark moment for life sciences in the UK. This cutting-edge personalised immunotherapy has been on a 10-year journey starting with research by clinical academics in UCL’s Cancer Institute who, with the support of UCL Business, established Autolus, a spinout company dedicated to developing, trialling and bringing AUCATZYL® to market.

“That journey has required vision, tenacity and over £800m. Today that has hugely paid off and will benefit people across the UK. It’s an inspiring demonstration of what can be achieved when university academics, NHS hospitals and investors work together.

Dr. Martin Pule, from UCL Cancer Institute and UCLH, who is also founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Autolus, said: “Success in developing obe-cel shows what can be achieved through collaboration between UCL, its affiliated hospitals and industry.”

Real-world impact

Harry, a 19-year-old student from Harrogate, was treated with Obe-cel as part of a clinical trial in 2024. He said: “I feel so lucky to have had access to such a wonderous treatment. Not 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. The biggest thing it offers is hope. When you’re facing a situation like mine, hope is the most valuable thing you can have.”

UCLB’s journey with Autolus

NASDAQ-listed Autolus Therapeutics is an early-commercial stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation programmed T-cell therapies.

Beginning its journey with Proof of Concept funding, UCLB’s support also included facilitating the spinout process, managing intellectual property, and fostering partnerships. The company has raised over $1.1bn of investment capital since incorporation, employing more than 450 people, and opening a state-of-the-art production facility, The Nucleus in Stevenage.

The foundational research underpinning obe-cel was conducted at UCL and led by Dr. Martin Pule and his collaborators at the UCL Cancer Institute and Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health. UCLB and Autolus entered into a licence agreement for patent rights relating to obe-cel back in 2018.