BioOra is on a mission to deliver one of the most advanced cancer treatments to New Zealanders—without the million-dollar price tag seen overseas. The biotech firm is racing to localise CAR T-cell therapy for patients running out of options from its Christchurch base.
Collaborating for Progress in Cancer Treatment
BioOra, in collaboration with the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, is at the forefront of CAR T-cell therapy development in New Zealand. Early findings from the Enable clinical trial’s second phase show remission in over half of the terminally ill patients treated, with fewer adverse effects than international treatments have shown.
“The trial doesn’t address the need for CAR T-cell therapies for other conditions like myeloma or other types of lymphoma yet,” said Dr. Robert Weinkove, clinical director at Malaghan. “One of the pieces of work we are doing … is working on other new constructs … we are hoping to have future phase 1 trials in those.”
Reducing Costs and Improving Access to Life-Saving Treatments
“People are writing big cheques. But people are desperate for the therapy … the companies understand this, and they price accordingly,” Robson said.
BioOra’s mission is to offer an alternative: a safe, effective therapy produced locally at a fraction of the overseas price.
“Our goal is to … provide the therapy at the lowest price point we can that is economically viable for the company,” he said. “That has been the challenge … can you manufacture at scale and produce the sort of price point that is … accessible, without it breaking the bank. That is what we have been doing, and we think we can.”
A Valuable Investment for Scalable Production and Future Expansion
BioOra is preparing for a significant capital raise through an initial public offering (IPO) to fund the construction of a high-tech facility in Christchurch. The new site will be dedicated to scaling CAR T-cell production, with plans to eventually extend the technology to other cancers, including multiple myeloma and paediatric leukaemia.
“The new design of the site in Christchurch … is optimised and is bespoke to our process,” said Robson. “The question now is, I need to raise enough money to make it real … the more clinical results we get, the more valuable the company becomes.”
He added, “We have some pretty grand aspirations for New Zealand becoming a central, global powerhouse of immunotherapy, so that people would travel here, rather than to laboratories in China and India, for world-class treatment.”
Exploring New Markets and Positioning for Global Leadership
BioOra is looking to expand its reach into Australia and Southeast Asia, with a vision to capture even just 2% of the regional CAR T market and emerge as a global leader. Robson envisions the brand as “the Rocket Lab of immunotherapy, or the Xero of immunotherapy.”
The company’s major obstacle is securing CAR T-cell therapy’s place in the public health system in New Zealand. BioOra aims for the therapy to be publicly funded and available by the first quarter of 2027, despite ongoing funding issues and regulatory complexity.
BioOra and the Malaghan Institute are focused on delivering a healthcare breakthrough, with mounting clinical success and a manufacturing facility on the horizon. The aim is to ensure that the treatment is not only proven but also accessible to every New Zealand patient in need.
“We are taking the risk because if we don’t do it now, then patients will continue to have to travel and pay enormous amounts of money,” said Robson. “And we’ll lose agency over this therapy forever.”