KFSHRC Localizes CAR T-Cell Therapy in Riyadh

King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Riyadh has begun manufacturing CAR T-cell therapy in-house, replacing its previous reliance on products made abroad. The locally produced treatment is currently offered within Phase I clinical trials for adult patients with relapsed or refractory CD19-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

The shift to local production has sharply reduced costs. The per-patient product cost has fallen from about 1,300,000 SAR to roughly 250,000 SAR, an estimated 80% reduction compared with imported or commercial CAR T therapy. Manufacturing turnaround time has also dropped from around 28 days, when cells were shipped abroad, to about 12 to 14 days at the hospital's facility in Riyadh.

The therapies are produced at KFSHRC's internal gene and cell therapy unit using closed-system transduction technology for production and quality control. The clinical trial is registered and supervised by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) as an investigational gene therapy study.

Why it matters

Since 2020, KFSHRC reports that more than 200 patients have been treated with CAR T therapies, including both imported commercial products and locally manufactured academic treatments. The locally made products are academic clinical-trial therapies, distinct from commercial imported CAR T products, whose price in Saudi Arabia remains around 1,570,000 SAR for the product alone, with total cost of care commonly reaching 2,600,000 to 4,500,000 SAR.

A dedicated gene and cell therapy manufacturing facility on the Riyadh campus is planned to be fully operational by late 2025, with an expected capacity of about 2,400 treatment doses covering both CAR T-cell and stem-cell therapies. The move aims to expand access to advanced cancer care and build local capability in a specialized field. As of 2026, there is no public information that CAR T-cell therapy at KFSHRC is booked or managed through national e-government platforms.

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