The DRIVIN’CAR consortium has secured €3M in EIC Pathfinder funding to develop a next-generation approach to chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) immunotherapy. The project aims to overcome the cost, complexity, and scalability limitations of current CAR T-cell treatments.
Coordinated by Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), DRIVIN’CAR brings together leading academic and industrial partners. These include Radboud University Medical Center, RWTH Aachen University, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Nanoworx, and BioTrip. The project is led by internationally recognized experts in RNA delivery, nanomedicine, immunotherapy, and imaging. Scientific leadership is provided by Dr. Roy van der Meel and Prof. Willem Mulder.
Rethinking how CAR therapies are made
While CAR T therapies have transformed the treatment of certain blood cancers, their broader use is constrained by highly complex ex vivo manufacturing and very high costs. DRIVIN’CAR addresses this by developing a modular apolipoprotein nanoparticle (aNP) platform that enables CAR immune cells to be generated directly in the patient, using targeted, transient mRNA delivery.
This approach has the potential to make CAR therapies more accessible and scalable. It also extends their applicability to solid tumors, where current CAR T strategies have shown limited success.