# IMAGINE (varnimcabtagene autoleucel, Immuneel)

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/imagine-varnimcabtagene/  
OnCo record `imagine-varnimcabtagene` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The first industry-run CAR-T trial in India, testing a Bengaluru-made version of a Barcelona hospital's cell therapy in relapsed lymphoma and leukaemia; it led to the approval of Qartemi.

## Summary

IMAGINE is Immuneel's phase 2 study of varnimcabtagene autoleucel (IMN-003A), the Indian version of the academic CD19 CAR-T ARI-0001 from Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, in relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies. Results including a B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma subanalysis, a cytokine profile and a prognostic score (the Bengaluru Score) were presented at the International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma and ASH in 2023. The trial supported CDSCO market authorisation of Qartemi for relapsed or refractory B-cell lymphoma in 2024. Full peer-reviewed efficacy figures for the Indian cohort were not available on the linked pages at the time of writing; the Spanish programme's published results are on the product page.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Phase: 2
- Setting: Relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies (B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma and B-ALL), adults, India
- Sponsor: Immuneel Therapeutics
- Enrolled: 24
- Outcomes: Overall response rate at the primary endpoint: Varnimcabtagene autoleucel (IMN-003A) 80.9%; Cytokine release syndrome, any grade: Varnimcabtagene autoleucel (IMN-003A) 66.7%
- Replication: Figures come from ASH 2023 abstracts, not a full paper. The Indian product is the ARI-0001 construct from Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, whose CART19-BE-01 trial and compassionate-use series (including a 2026 mantle cell lymphoma report, ORR 89%) show similar activity and low rates of severe CRS, so the Bengaluru result replicates the Spanish programme in a new manufacturing site rather than an independent design.

## Sources

- IMAGINE B-NHL subanalysis (Hematol Oncol 2023): https://doi.org/10.1002/hon.3165_632
- Cytokine profile (Blood 2023, ASH abstract): https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2023-181585
- Bengaluru Score (Blood 2023, ASH abstract): https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2023-181120

## Connected records

- cancers: [Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/all-leukemia/), [Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/dlbcl/)
- technologies: [CAR-T cell therapy](https://onco.cc/technologies/car-t/), [Point-of-care and decentralised cell manufacturing](https://onco.cc/technologies/point-of-care-cell-manufacturing/)
- targets: [CD19](https://onco.cc/targets/cd19/)
- drugs: [Varnimcabtagene autoleucel](https://onco.cc/drugs/varnimcabtagene-autoleucel/)
- companies: [Immuneel Therapeutics](https://onco.cc/companies/immuneel/)
- institutions: [Narayana Health (Mazumdar Shaw Medical Centre)](https://onco.cc/institutions/narayana-health/)
- terms: [Cytokine release syndrome (CRS)](https://onco.cc/terms/crs/)
- bottlenecks: [Manufacturing cost and time for living and radioactive medicines](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-manufacturing-cell-therapy/), [Most of the world has almost no cancer care](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-global-access/)
- roadmaps: [Global access and affordability roadmap: essential medicines and generics → biosimilars and frugal trials → reliance, pooling and homegrown innovation](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/global-access-roadmap/)

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