CAR T-cell therapy is transforming cancer treatment across the world. But in New Zealand it remains out of reach for most patients.
While lives are being saved elsewhere, New Zealanders are missing out. Bringing advanced treatments like CAR T-cell therapy to Aotearoa is complex and costly and for too long, it has remained out of reach.
Right now, people must travel thousands of kilometres to access treatment. For some, the distance is too great. For others, the cost is impossible. And for some, the chance never comes.
At the Malaghan Institute, we’re working to change that – building the research, expertise and infrastructure needed to bring CAR T-cell therapy to New Zealand hospitals and to pave the way for future therapies.
With your support, we can accelerate this work and bring life-changing immunotherapy closer to home.
Go the distance, so others don’t have to.
Let's give all New Zealanders the same chance as Kirsty.
When Kirsty was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, her life turned upside down. Multiple rounds of chemotherapy failed. Her partner, Mick, had recently passed away from cancer. She was now fighting for her life while trying to care for her young son, Sam.
With no remaining treatment options in the public system, Kirsty was accepted into the Malaghan Institute’s ENABLE phase 1 CAR T-cell trial - the first of its kind in New Zealand.
“It’s incredible to think this happened here in New Zealand. This treatment gave me time with Sam. I just hope more people get the chance I did — without needing to go overseas or fight to be part of a trial.” - Kirsty, participant in the Malaghan Institute's CAR T-cell phase 1 trial.
Kirsty’s story offers real hope. It also highlights why continued progress in treatments like CAR T-cell therapy matters, so that more people who may benefit can access it.
Ready to go the distance?
Go the Distance with people like Janelle
Seven years ago, my husband Kurt died of blood cancer. When he was diagnosed, we had a four-month-old daughter. Less than a year later, he was gone. When chemotherapy failed, we were told there were no other treatment options left.
At the time, CAR-T immunotherapy wasn’t available in New Zealand. We worked tirelessly to get Kurt to Boston to take part in a CAR-T trial, at enormous personal and financial cost, and far from the comfort of home and family during his final months. It was an incredibly challenging experience, on top of what was already a living nightmare.
Since then, CAR-T treatment has come an incredibly long way, and I’ve seen firsthand how powerful it can be. Every day, seven New Zealanders are diagnosed with blood cancer, and it shakes lives to the core.
I'm honoured to be a part of the Go-The-Distance campaign, fundraising to help bring CAR-T therapy to hospitals across New Zealand. I'm going the distance, so that you and your favourite humans won't have to.
At the Malaghan Institute, we believe every Kiwi should have access to advanced cancer therapies – right here at home.
In 2019, the Malaghan Institute launched New Zealand’s first clinical trial of CAR T-cell therapy. This one-off treatment works by reprogramming a patient’s own immune cells to seek out and destroy their cancer, harnessing the power of their own immune system to fight back.
Our phase 1 trial proved what’s possible: doors were opened, hope was sparked – and New Zealanders who had run out of options were part of something ground-breaking.
Now we are in phase 2, treating more patients earlier in their cancer journey, building the capability and gathering the evidence needed to embed CAR T-cell therapy as a standard of care in our public health system.
This is our final push towards Kiwis getting access to this life-changing treatment here at home, without the crushing costs or barriers.
But we can only make it possible with your support.
Help us finish what we started in bringing our homegrown breakthrough from the lab to New Zealanders who need it.
