Fresenius Leads New EASYGEN Consortium Aimed at Decentralizing CAR-T Cell Therapy and Improving Hospital Workflows
The global healthcare company Fresenius is collaborating with other companies and academic institutions with the goals of accelerating the manufacturing of CAR-T cell therapy, making it more cost-effective, and improving patient access across Europe. Led by Fresenius, the newly launched EASYGEN (Easy workflow integration for gene therapy) consortium will focus on efforts to develop a modular, hospital-based platform capable of manufacturing personalized cell therapies in just a few days, rather than weeks. The project is a public-private partnership, with €8 million in funding provided by the EU through the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI). It leverages technology originally developed by the Cell and Gene Therapy team of Fresenius Kabi, part of Fresenius.
Dr. Christian Hauer, President MedTech at Fresenius Kabi, said: “This project contributes to expanding our MedTech platform, making it an important step on our path to #FutureFresenius. The aim is not only to develop cutting-edge medical technologies, but also to make them available quickly, safely, and close to the patient. In this way, we are actively working to shape the healthcare of tomorrow.”
“EASYGEN brings together physicians, researchers, and partner institutions from across Europe with the goal of collaboratively advancing innovative, personalized therapies such as CAR-T cells for cancer treatment. Automation can help reduce production complexity of these therapies, with the aim of making it easier to scale these life-saving treatments and improve patient access,” added Prof. Dr. med. Ralf Kuhlen, Chief Medical Officer at Fresenius.
CAR-T therapy is a breakthrough treatment that involves genetically modifying a patient’s T cells to target cancer. It requires complex, time-intensive production in specialized facilities often far from patients. Limited manufacturing capacity and supply chain delays can potentially prevent timely patient access. Despite clinical eligibility, access to CAR-T cell therapy remains limited for patients across Europe. This is particularly evident in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL), a type of cancer that is one of the most common indications: Across five European countries, the average treatment rate is below 20%. While approximately 30% of eligible patients receive CAR-T therapy in France, the figure drops to just 11% in Italy.*
Fresenius is actively involved in cell and gene therapy. Fresenius Kabi provides medical technology for these therapies, including automated cell processing systems such as Lovo and Cue. Fresenius Helios, for example, at its Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch, has been offering CAR-T cell therapy as a standard treatment for relapsed cases since 2019. The clinic is also conducting clinical trials to further explore the potential of CAR-T therapies. Quirónsalud, Fresenius’ Spanish hospital business, has established specialized oncology units that offer CAR-T cell therapy as part of their advanced cancer treatment portfolio, particularly for hematologic malignancies.
EASYGEN is led by Fresenius and academically co-led by Fraunhofer Institute, IZI, Leipzig – one of Europe’s foremost immunotherapy research centers in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Michael Hudecek, a leader in CAR-T cell engineering and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Köhl, a pioneer in translational cellular immunotherapies.
Consortium partners – 18 organizations across 8 countries
Industry & clinical leaders: Fresenius (Coordinator, Germany), Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch (Germany), Quirónsalud (Spain), Fenwal Inc. (USA), Cellix Ltd. (Ireland), Charles River (Germany), Pro-Liance Global Solutions (Germany), TQ Therapeutics (Germany), Philips Electronics Nederland B.V. (Netherlands).
Academic & research institutions: Fraunhofer IESE (Germany), Fraunhofer IZI (Germany), Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Germany), Technical University of Denmark (Denmark), Frankfurt School of Finance & Management (Germany), European Society for Blood & Marrow Transplantation (Netherlands), Bar-Ilan University (Israel), University of Glasgow (UK), University of Navarra (Spain).
Learn more about CAR-T cell therapy: Interview Prof. Bertram Glaß, Chief Physician for Hematology and Cell Therapy at Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch.
About Fresenius
Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA (Frankfurt/Xetra: FRE) is a global healthcare company headquartered in Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe, Germany. In the 2024 fiscal year, Fresenius generated €21.5 billion in annual revenue. Fresenius currently counts over 176,000 employees. The Fresenius Group comprises the operating companies Fresenius Kabi and Fresenius Helios as well as an investment in Fresenius Medical Care. With around 140 hospitals and countless outpatient facilities, Fresenius Helios is the leading private hospital operator in Germany and Spain, treating around 26 million patients every year. Fresenius Kabi’s product portfolio touches the lives of 450 million patients annually and includes a range of highly complex biopharmaceuticals, clinical nutrition, medical technology, and intravenous generic drugs and fluids. Fresenius was established in 1912 by the Frankfurt pharmacist Dr. Eduard Fresenius. After his death, Else Kröner took over management of the company in 1952. She laid the foundations for a global enterprise that today pursues the goal of improving people’s health. The largest shareholder is the non-profit Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing medical research and supporting humanitarian projects.
For more information visit the Company’s website at http://www.fresenius.com
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About EASYGEN
EASYGEN is a five-year research project supported by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU) under grant agreement No 101194710. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme and COCIR, EFPIA, Europa Bío, MedTech Europe, Vaccines Europe and industry partners. Selected under the IHI call “User-centric technologies and optimized hospital workflows for a sustainable healthcare workforce”, the project aims to develop an integrated, automated platform that enables point-of-care CAR-T cell manufacturing—cutting production time, reducing costs, and expanding access to next-generation immunotherapies.
Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union, the private members, and those contributing partners of the IHI JU. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the aforementioned parties. Neither of the aforementioned parties can be held responsible for them.
