A newlywed has become the first NHS patient in England with an aggressive form of leukaemia to have a pioneering treatment developed by UCL researchers.
The chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy - known as 'obe-cel' and marketed as Aucatzyl - involves taking a patient's immune cells and reprogramming them in a lab to identify and target their cancer, before returning them to the body as 'living medicine'.
Obe-cel is a second-generation CAR T cell therapy invented by scientists from the UCL Cancer Institute, led by Dr Martin Pule, and has delivered promising results in treating patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), an aggressive blood cancer.
The therapy has reduced immune toxicity and persists for longer in blood cancer patients, overcoming two common limitations of earlier CAR T cell therapies. Aucatzyl was taken through clinical trials and is manufactured by UCL spinout business Autolus, which was set up with the help of UCL Business, the commercialisation company of UCL.
This week it was announced that the NHS had treated its first patient with the drug following its approval by medicines watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in November.
Oscar Murphy, 28, who married his partner Lauren at Manchester Royal Infirmary in December, was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (B-cell ALL) in March 2025.
The car salesman, from Bury, underwent chemotherapy and a donor stem cell transplant in July but in November was told that his cancer had returned.
He has now been given the Aucatzyl in hospital in two doses - hundreds of millions of CAR T-cells can be contained within just a few teaspoons of liquid and administering the drug takes only a few minutes.
Oscar, who has now finished his treatment, told the BBC he was surprised the treatment could pack such a powerful punch in such a small dose.
He told the broadcaster: "It's very sci-fi, but if it means it gets rid of the cancer permanently and my own cells can do it it's just fantastic.
"The leukaemia I've got is so fast-acting. It needs an even quicker response [than chemotherapy and a donor stem cell transplant] to stop it. And we've now got an answer for that."
The drug is available to people aged 26 and over with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia which has returned or not responded to previous treatment through specialist centres.
Dr Claire Roddie, Associate Professor of Haematology at UCL Cancer Institute and a consultant haematologist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), who helped develop the treatment, said: "I am delighted to see this treatment being used for the first time in the NHS since it was approved by NICE in November.
"It is always incredibly rewarding for everyone involved to see a moment like this and we wish Oscar, and all the patients who will follow him, the very best."
UCL Business chief executive Dr Anne Lane, said: "The first leukaemia patient to receive cutting-edge personalised immunotherapy is a life-changing moment for the family and a landmark for UK life sciences.
"This 10-year journey began with brilliant research by clinical academics at UCL's Cancer Institute, who we supported to set up Autolus.
"This shows what the UK can achieve when world-class doctors and researchers work together, backed by strong innovation, infrastructure and patient investment."
Eligible patients like Oscar receive two doses of CAR T therapy intravenously, ten days apart, and it is estimated that it could be administered to around 50 patients each year in England.
In a clinical trial, 77% of patients saw their cancer enter remission after treatment with obe-cel, with half of those showing no signs of detectable cancer after three and a half years.
The treatment - which has been researched, developed and manufactured in the UK - was also found to have lower toxicity and was less likely to cause serious side effects than other CAR T-cell therapies.
Its development has had long-standing support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.
Links
- Autolus
- UCL Business (UCLB)
- NIHR UCLH BRC
- Dr Martin Pule's academic profile
- Dr Claire Roddie's academic profile
- UCL Cancer Institute
- UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences
Image
CAR T therapy. Credit: iStock.
