Indian Biotech Breakthroughs
India's biotech story in 2025-26 is a set of home-grown firsts at very different stages of ripeness, and the exam-smart move is to know exactly how far each has travelled. NexCAR19, a made-in-India CAR-T cancer therapy, is already treating patients; BIRSA 101, an indigenous CRISPR fix for sickle cell disease, has been unveiled and handed to industry; AdFalciVax, a home-grown malaria vaccine, is still an early candidate; and SKUAST-Kashmir has produced the country's first gene-edited sheep. August 2026 added three laboratory results from Department of Science and Technology institutes: RK-251, a cancer prodrug that switches on only inside tumour cells; TZ-48, a fluorescent probe paired with a smartphone app to read Alzheimer's biomarkers; and SAMBAR, the first baseline map of healthy South Asian gut microbiomes. September 2026 added a fourth: ARCI's single-piece dental implant, titanium alloy fused to zirconia to spare the patient repeat surgery.
- NexCAR19
- BIRSA 101
- AdFalciVax
- gene-edited sheep
- CAR-T
- CRISPR
- ICMR
- CSIR-IGIB
- SKUAST
- ImmunoACT
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