Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s wholly owned subsidiary Nucelion Therapeutics has partnered Hyderabad-based VeGen Bio to manufacture an advanced cancer treatment, as the vaccine maker expands its presence in the emerging cell and gene therapy market.
Under the agreement, Nucelion will provide technology transfer, process development and manufacturing services for VeGen Bio’s experimental CAR-T therapy, VL-2511, which is being developed for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.
The companies plan to advance the treatment towards Phase 1/2 clinical trials in India and are targeting commercialisation by 2028, subject to regulatory approvals.
The agreement is a manufacturing partnership rather than a drug marketing or distribution arrangement.
VeGen Bio will bring the treatment technology, while Nucelion will use its specialised manufacturing facility in Hyderabad to develop production processes, manufacture the therapy for clinical trials and eventually support commercial production.
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For Bharat Biotech, the partnership is part of a broader effort to expand beyond vaccines into manufacturing services for advanced biological treatments.
Nucelion offers services covering viral vectors, genetically modified cells and other complex biological products.
Some of these processes draw on capabilities already used in vaccine manufacturing, although patient-specific cell therapies require additional expertise and infrastructure.
“Many CAR-T programs stall between a promising construct and a product that can be made reliably at scale. As one of India’s first dedicated cell and gene therapy CRDMOs, Nucelion closes that gap, taking partners like VeGen from process development through clinical and commercial manufacturing,” said Raghu Malapaka, chief business officer, Nucelion Therapeutics.
The company has been building this business through partnerships.
In January 2026, Nucelion announced a collaboration with Bengaluru-based Pandorum Technologies to manufacture experimental regenerative therapies for eye diseases.
It subsequently entered into an agreement with Denmark’s Nordic Cell Therapy Group to explore cell therapy development and another with Belgium’s Quantoom Biosciences to explore RNA manufacturing in India.
The VeGen Bio partnership extends this strategy into manufacturing CAR-T therapies for cancer.
CAR-T therapy involves collecting immune cells from a patient, genetically modifying them in a laboratory to recognise and attack cancer cells, and returning them to the patient’s body.
Unlike conventional medicines manufactured in large batches, these treatments require specialised facilities and strict quality controls for individual patients.
VL-2511 is designed to target two proteins, BCMA and CD19, with the aim of reducing the chances of cancer cells escaping treatment.
According to the companies, the therapy has undergone clinical development in China and is also being developed in the United States.
“CAR-T cell therapy holds significant promise for patients with serious cancers, but realizing its full potential requires a coordinated approach to technology transfer, manufacturing, scalability, and commercialization,” said Prashant Bhavar, director, VeGen Bio.
Cell and gene therapies are attracting increasing interest because they offer treatment options for certain cancers and genetic disorders where existing therapies may have limited effectiveness.
India has already developed an indigenous CAR-T treatment, NexCAR19, through a collaboration involving IIT Bombay, Tata Memorial Centre and ImmunoACT.
However, high manufacturing costs and the need for specialised infrastructure remain barriers to wider access.
Nucelion and VeGen Bio said their collaboration would focus on improving manufacturing efficiency and reducing production costs, with the aim of making advanced cancer treatments more affordable in India.