Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA is leading an 8 million euro EU-backed effort to make CAR-T cell therapy faster, more affordable, and more accessible to patients across Europe. The newly launched EASYGEN (Easy workflow integration for gene therapy) consortium will develop a fully automated, hospital-based platform capable of manufacturing personalized cell therapies within 24 hours. The Innovative Health Initiative's (IHI) Call 7.2 targets user-centered technologies to relieve hospital staff and broaden access to advanced treatments. EASYGEN meets this goal by enabling rapid, in-hospital CAR-T cell production in days rather than weeks, accelerating patient access, reducing workloads, and lowering costs. EASYGEN leverages technology originally developed by Fresenius Kabi's Cell and Gene Therapy team.
CAR-T therapy is a breakthrough cancer treatment, yet fewer than 20% of eligible patients currently receive it. It involves genetically modifying a patient's T cells to target cancer, requiring complex, time-intensive production in specialized facilities often far from patients. Limited manufacturing capacity and supply chain delays prevent timely patient access.
"EASYGEN is an interdisciplinary project, and we add our knowledge in process and operations management, and participatory user research," said Professor Jens O. Brunner, DTU Management. "Considering the whole patient journey, including perspectives from all stakeholders, will make the application of this treatment not just an efficient but a human-centred solution."
The scientific strategy is academically co-led by Fraunhofer Institute IZI, Leipzig - Europe's foremost immunotherapy research centre under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Michael Hudecek, a leader in CAR-T cell engineering, and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Köhl, a pioneer in translational cellular immunotherapies.
