Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. has joined the EASYGEN Consortium, a European Union (EU)-backed effort to produce CAR-T cell therapies faster, make them more affordable, and increase patient access throughout Europe. The Consortium aims to develop a fully automated, hospital-based platform capable of manufacturing personalized cell therapies within 24 hours.
By collaborating across industry and academia, I am hopeful we can design a streamlined workflow that will increase access to these therapies for patients who need them.
Charles River will leverage its deep institutional expertise in 3D screening technologies to develop an ex vivo platform to expedite early screening for safety and efficacy. By leveraging access to Charles River’s well-annotated patient-derived xenograft (PDX) bank in combination with high-content imaging read-outs, the new 3D screening platform will enable the rapid identification of the safest and most efficacious CAR-T cell candidate for subsequent development.
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“In the treatment of complex cancers, time is critical,” said Julia Schueler, DVM, PhD, Therapeutic Area Lead, Oncology, Charles River. “The current manufacturing process for CAR-T therapies is time-intensive and severely limits their clinical application. By collaborating across industry and academia, I am hopeful we can design a streamlined workflow that will increase access to these therapies for patients who need them.”
CAR-T cell therapy represents a breakthrough in cancer treatment, yet fewer than 20 percent of eligible patients currently receive it. These therapies typically involve genetically modifying a patient’s T cell 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.
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“EASYGEN unites physicians, researchers, and partner institutions across Europe to collaboratively deliver innovative, personalized therapies more swiftly to where they matter most—to patients in need,” said Dr. Sonja Steppan, Head of Research Office, Fresenius SE and Principal Investigator, EASYGEN. “Automating patient-specific therapies such as CAR-T is essential to make these treatments more broadly accessible, especially in non-academic clinical environments.”
The EU’s Innovative Health Initiative’s (IHI) Call 7, Topic 2, introduced in 2024, focuses on the development of user-centered technologies to relieve hospital staff and broaden access to advanced treatments. The EASYGEN Consortium aims to meet this goal by enabling rapid, in-hospital CAR-T cell production in days rather than weeks, accelerating patient access, reducing workloads, and lowering costs. A collaboration between 18 academic, research, industry and clinic partners across eight countries, EASYGEN brings together leading expertise across a wide variety of disciplines.
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Source- businesswire
