The world’s first blood transfusion institute – now Russia’s National Medical Research Centre for Haematology – is celebrating its centenary. GxP News looks at how the centre is contributing to the federal “Cancer Control” project and developing the country’s first homegrown cell-based drug for blood cancer.
Alexander Bogdanov, the institute’s founder, was a revolutionary who dreamed of changing the world. He spoke of the rejuvenating effects of blood transfusions and argued that in wartime, transfusions would save the lives of the wounded. The institute established the world’s first haematology department, where patients with blood disorders were treated. At that time, transfusion was the main therapy.
Today, the centre comprises research and clinical-research units conducting studies in fundamental and applied haematology, biology, molecular genetics, transplant and transfusion immunology, biochemistry, pharmacology, bioinformatics and biostatistics.
Transfusion medicine remains a key part of the centre’s work, because donor blood cannot yet be replaced by drugs. Scientists worldwide are trying to make blood products more like pharmaceuticals, but donor blood will never become one.
More than 5,000 people donate blood at the centre each year. The centre also carries out the full cycle of development, manufacture and use of CAR-T cell products for treating blood cancers.
The country’s first immune cell transfusions were performed at the Rogachev National Medical Research Centre for Paediatric Haematology, Oncology and Immunology in 2017, and subsequently cured children with acute leukaemias.
“That was a technology transfer, so our centre faced the task of creating its own CAR-T cell drug,” Elena Parovichnikova, director general of the centre and corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told a press conference. “From the start of laboratory development to the first patient receiving CAR-T cells took just 1.5 years. We have completed the country’s first study on the use of CAR-T cells and are preparing the dossier for approval of Utzhefra.”
The drug is a second-generation CAR‑T therapy targeting the CD19 antigen on B cells. It is intended for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and B‑cell lymphomas. The clinical trial began in November 2024 and enrolled 70 patients; the first dose was administered in January 2025. The arrival of a domestically produced drug is an important step for the healthcare system, as CAR‑T therapy remains one of the most advanced technologies in oncohaematology, changing how severe cancers are treated.
“The number of centres performing autologous transplants in the country has increased by 60%, and those performing allogeneic transplants by one‑third,” Parovichnikova said. “Over five years, mortality from blood cancers in Russia has fallen by 20%.”
According to Parovichnikova, Russia’s Health Ministry has also developed a new approach to harnessing CAR‑T therapy. Today, there are medical centres in Russia that can produce a CAR‑T cell drug individually for each patient outside strict pharmaceutical regulations and use it as a biomedical cell product. This will allow more patients to hope for CAR‑T cell therapy, she said.
Moreover, a provision has been added to the State Guarantees Programme under which the government will fully fund each use of a CAR‑T cell product, making treatment free for patients. Russia will thus develop its own model of CAR‑T application, where specialised centres can create cell products without relying on an industrial model.
Currently, the method is used for haematological malignancies: acute leukaemias, non‑Hodgkin lymphomas and multiple myeloma, GxP News reports. Attempts to use it for solid tumours such as lung or breast cancer remain at the research stage with no practical application yet.
