On 29 April 2026, the EASYGEN Consortium held its first General Assembly at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) in Leipzig, bringing together 21 partners, among them EBMT, from nine countries across science, clinical practice, and industry. One year into this Innovative Health Initiative (IHI)-funded project, the meeting served both as a milestone review and a reaffirmation of purpose: improving access to CAR-T cell therapy for all patients who could benefit.
A patient advocate opened proceedings with a powerful reminder of what is at stake, making clear in human terms what the data already show — that patients and families living with treatment-refractory disease cannot wait for the healthcare system to catch up with scientific progress. A caregiver advocate reinforced the message and ensured that the patient and family perspective remained forefront in everyone’s minds. Together, their contributions defined the tone of the meeting: one of urgency, accountability, and shared purpose.
Year one has delivered strong foundations. Partners have advanced new manufacturing process steps, mapped hospital workflows, and begun systematically identifying the barriers blocking access to therapy. Yet the central message from Leipzig was equally honest: the science is progressing, but the system is not yet ready to deliver CAR-T equitably to all who need it. EASYGEN was designed precisely to address this gap, and the work ahead remains substantial.
EBMT's Contribution: Reach, Depth, and Clinical Grounding
EBMT has contributed broad reach, scientific depth, and clinical grounding throughout year one. On communications, we have helped shape the project's dissemination strategy, amplifying EASYGEN content to over 10,000 LinkedIn followers and providing a platform for project findings at two landmark events: EBMT-EHA 8th European CAR T-cell Meeting (February 2026, 1,000+ delegates) and the 52nd Annual Meeting of the EBMT (March 2026, 5,600+ participants).
In Leipzig, Tuula Rintala, EBMT's Director of Quality of Care and Advocacy, participated in a panel discussion on patient access and barriers to CAR-T therapy, highlighting EBMT's work with partners on data harmonisation and real-world data collection to improve patient outcomes. It was a privilege to share that platform with a patient advocate, whose openness in describing his patient experience reminded us all why this work matters — and how much remains to be done.
EBMT has also embedded patient voice into the project from the outset and connected EASYGEN with its pan-European clinical network to ground findings in the realities of front-line practice across diverse health systems.
Looking Ahead
In year two, EBMT will complete a quality-of-life literature review covering the full CAR-T patient journey — from referral to long-term recovery — to establish the current evidence base and identify gaps that require urgent attention. We will continue validating new delivery process innovations through our clinical network and raising awareness of EASYGEN's progress across scientific, clinical, and patient advocacy communities.
Improving access to CAR-T therapy requires the alignment of manufacturing, clinical delivery, health system infrastructure, patient advocacy, and evidence generation. EASYGEN brings all these together — and EBMT is proud to be part of that effort.
For more information, visit www.easygen-consortium.eu or follow the EASYGEN Consortium on LinkedIn.
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.
This project is 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, and Vaccines Europe.