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.
From scientific vision to strategic positioning
During the proposal development, FFUND provided targeted support to the consortium, contributing to the refinement of the project’s framing and its alignment with the EIC Pathfinder objectives. This included the articulation of long-term scientific, clinical, and innovation perspectives.
Filipa Carvalhal Marques: “What made this collaboration especially enjoyable was the openness and ambition of the DRIVIN’CAR team. It’s always a pleasure to work with people doing outstanding science and to help shape a strategy that really does it justice.”
The consortium itself highlights the value of this collaboration:
Roy van der Meel: “It was an absolute pleasure to work with the FFUND team, who were incredibly responsive and instrumental in putting the proposal together. I’m really excited to start the DRIVIN’ CAR Program, and work with the consortium’s outstanding academic and industrial partners to advance our apolipoprotein nanoparticle platform technology toward therapeutic applications.”
Willem Mulder: “For the past six years, we have been developing a novel and differentiating nanomedicine platform for in vivo CAR therapy. Uniting with top experts in the DRIVIN’CAR consortium, we will drive our groundbreaking platform forward to clinical application. FFUND played an instrumental role in guiding us through this highly competitive funding scheme, in which we had no prior experience.”
With EIC Pathfinder support secured, DRIVIN’CAR will now advance its research program, laying the foundations for a new class of in vivo CAR immunotherapies and future follow-on development.
About the EIC Pathfinder
The EIC Pathfinder supports high-risk, early-stage research (TRL 1–4) that explores radically new scientific ideas. It lays the foundations for future breakthrough technologies within the EIC funding continuum.
How FFUND can help
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