Amsterdam UMC is participating in the sweeping EU project ‘T2EVOLVE’ which aims to accelerate the process of implementing groundbreaking CAR T-cell therapy so our patients have access to the best available medical care. The contribution of Amsterdam UMC is led by Maria Themeli and Marie José Kersten. 

T2EVOLVE is a breakthrough alliance of academic and industry leaders in cancer immunotherapy which started in January 2021, under the European Union’s Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI). The key objective of T2EVOLVE is to accelerate development and to increase access of cancer patients to immunotherapy with reprogrammed immune cells. Reprogramming is accomplished by genetic engineering with a T cell receptor (TCR) or synthetic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR). 

Engineered T cell therapy is a revolutionary cancer treatment where a patient’s immune cells are reprogrammed to seek and destroy cancer cells. This transformative treatment has the potential to cure cancer with a single shot. This therapy is approved and available in the EU for the treatment of leukemia and has the potential to become a blockbuster therapy for other types of cancer, as well as infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases in the future.