One shot is all it takes? Patients suffering from auto-immune disease could see an end to their pain with the use of chimeric antigen receptor cell therapy (Car-T), a gene therapy infusion developed by German rheumatologist Georg Schett, The Financial Times reports. “Most people thought that when you have an autoimmune disease, you have to suppress the immune system forever. Now, we have a single shot that looks a lot like a cure,” said Schett.

How does it work? T-cells are collected from the patient and re-engineered to produce chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). These very special cells are responsible for recognizing the sickly cells while the T-cells fulfill their natural role of an immune response to directly kill cells infected by pathogens. So far, 15 patients have received Schett’s treatment and only one of them has experienced a mild recurrence of the disease, thrilling both oncologists and researchers.

It will set you back USD 450 k — but is widely available, according to the US’ NationalCancer Institute. Other countries are also jumping on the CAR T-cell bandwagon making it standard treatment for patients with aggressive lymphomas, adds Steven Rosenberg, chief of the Surgery Branch in NCI’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR), an immunotherapy and CAR T-cell therapy pioneer.

The road remains long. Patients are required to go through three sessions of chemotherapy to prime their bodies before Car-T. This means that the auto-immune patients who are eligible have to experience fevers and fatigue before getting their therapy. However, US-based biotech firm Cabaletta Bio is testing the impact Car T-cell has on those not exposed to chemotherapy, which will make almost all auto-immune patients eligible.

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