Published on: 2026-07-09
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
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The High-Tech Drug Development Laboratory of Novosibirsk State University, located in the new NSU campus, together with the Research Institute of Clinical and Experimental Lymphology (RICLE — a branch of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences — work funded by the National Center for Molecular and Cellular Biology) is working on creating infrastructure for the development of CAR-T cell therapy in Russia. The first results of this work were presented at the 15th International Multiconference “Bioinformatics of Genome Regulation and Structure / Systems Biology” BGRS/SB-2026.
This is not about launching a separate development, but about creating an entire ecosystem of tools, reagents, and services necessary for preclinical and clinical research in the field of CAR-T therapy. Work in this area is also financed as part of the strategic technological project of NSU “Biomedicine” within the “Priority-2030” program.
According to the head of the laboratory for the development of high-tech pharmaceutical drugs at NSU, Candidate of Biological Sciences Sergey Kulemzin, the team is focused on developing a methodological and biochemical foundation for specialists working with CAR-T cells.
— We are engaged in creating an ecosystem or, if you prefer, an infrastructure for CAR-T cell therapy in the interests of domestic researchers, developers, and manufacturers who are advancing this field in our country. The infrastructure I am talking about is not buildings and equipment, but a collection of reagents, methods, and services that make research, development, and future clinical application in the field of CAR-T therapy less dependent on external supplies and more sustainable in the long term., — he explained.
There are already more than ten scientific groups in Russia designing new variants of cell therapy, but access to specialized reagents and services remains limited and often depends on foreign supplies.
One area of work for NSU and its partners has been the creation of reagents for detecting chimeric antigen receptors and the development of more efficient methods for viral delivery of genetic material into T-lymphocytes. In particular, Kulemsin’s group developed their own reagent for monitoring CAR-T cells in a patient’s blood using flow cytometry.
This reagent allows assessing how CAR-T cells multiply after the drug is administered and comparing their proportion in the blood at different stages of treatment. Previously, expensive foreign kits were used for these tasks, access to which became difficult due to sanctions and logistical restrictions.
According to researchers, the new domestic reagent shows comparable quality and stability at a significantly lower cost.
— We checked its performance — it works just as well as the Western counterpart and will be noticeably cheaper; by my estimates, this means a cost reduction of more than five times., — noted Kulemsin.
Another example is the development of services for creating lentiviral vectors for preclinical studies. The production of CAR-T cells requires a lentiviral vector that delivers the genetic cassette of the chimeric antigen receptor into T lymphocytes. Large pharmaceutical companies can produce large batches of such vectors for extensive clinical programs, but research groups at the preclinical stage often need relatively small intermediate volumes available through a service model.
The NSU team is developing a set of methods that will allow scientists to transfer the sequence of a chimeric antigen receptor and obtain a ready-made lentiviral vector of the required volume for animal experiments. Within this approach, chemical synthesis of the gene, cloning into a plasmid vector, assembly and purification of viral particles, quality control, and shipment to research teams are carried out. Such a service infrastructure should simplify the launch of preclinical projects and reduce dependence on orders from foreign companies.
The project for the development of CAR-T therapy infrastructure is being implemented in cooperation with several scientific centers.
— First of all, it is the Laboratory for the Development of High-Tech Pharmaceuticals at NSU, but we also work very closely with NIIKEL and the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We are confident that maximum collaboration is important, — emphasized Kulemzin.
At the BGRS/SB-2026 conference, the presentation by NSU and NIIKEL became one of the examples of how bioinformatics, molecular biology, and clinical practice are combined to advance cutting-edge therapeutic technologies.
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