How is Kymriah administered?

Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) is a chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy for use in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory (r/r) B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Kymriah is made from a patients own white blood cells in a process called leukapheresis. A tube (intravenous catheter) is placed in the patient's vein to collect the white blood cells from the blood. Leukapheresis takes 3 to 6 hours and may need to be repeated. The blood cells are frozen and sent to the manufacturing site to make Kymriah.

It takes roughly 3 to 4 weeks to make Kymriah. Before receiving Kymriah, a patient may receive chemotherapy for a few days to prepare their body to accept the treatment more readily. Once manufactured, Kymriah is given as a suspension through a tube (intravenous catheter) into the patient's vein. This usually takes less than one hour. However, once the patient receives Kymriah, they should plan to stay within 2 hours of their medical team and the location where they received the treatment for at least 4 weeks.