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Don't Panic! Novartis Is Still Invested In CAR-T Despite 2Q Silence

Novartis AG's CAR-T cell therapy CTL019, set to be the first in this class to achieve a US FDA filing, might not be an immediate blockbuster owing to its tricky treatment logistics, small initial indication and a lack of physician and patient exposure, but it is still a game changer in immuno-oncology, says Dr. Oz Azam, Novartis's head of cell therapies.

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Novartis AG's cell therapy CTL019, a CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cells) product, caused a stir last month when the big pharma neglected to include the pipeline-leading therapy on a list of its upcoming potential blockbuster drugs during its second-quarter earnings presentation. But Dr. Oz Azam, global head of cell and gene therapies at Novartis, told Scrip this was not a big deal and indeed there were a number of explanations for the medicine's exclusion.

While Azam said he couldn’t comment directly on why Novartis's senior management team did not include CTL019 on a slide...

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