Project description
Armouring the immune system from within
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) immunotherapies are a powerful cancer treatment, but their development is very challenging. Doctors need to extract a patient’s immune cells, re-engineer them in a lab with cancer fighting properties, and then inject them back into the body. It is a slow, incredibly expensive process, and it often fails against solid tumours. In this context, the EIC-funded DRIVIN CAR programme aims to skip this process altogether. Specifically, it will use nanoparticles made of the body's own proteins for delivering genetic instructions directly into patients' immune cells. Via this approach, the patient’s own body will be able to develop the treatment, reducing costs and increasing therapy accessibility.
Objective
DRIVIN’ CAR aims to transform immunotherapy by developing a scalable, cost-effective platform for in vivo generation of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) immune cells. Using proprietary apolipoprotein nanoparticle (aNP) platform technology, DRIVIN’ CAR pursues robust CAR monocyte/macrophage (CAR M) and CAR T cell therapy. Owing to their biocompatibility and natural tropism for myeloid cells, aNPs are excellently suited for in vivo CAR M therapy. For efficient in vivo T cell targeting, aNPs can be modularly surface-functionalized with apolipoprotein fusion proteins.
The Program’s aNP platform technology addresses key limitations of current CAR therapies that prevent widespread implementation. It simultaneously tackles high treatment costs, complex ex vivo manufacturing procedures, and poor performance in solid tumors of conventional CAR cell therapy. The aNP platform also overcomes challenges associated with emerging in vivo approaches, such as limited specificity and safety risks.
By combining advanced bioengineering, high throughput manufacturing, library screening approaches and in vivo validation, DRIVIN’CAR brings together world-leading experts to deliver a unique and versatile platform for in vivo CAR therapies with real clinical impact.
This Program’s successful completion will advance the aNP platform to TRL 4. Besides enabling in vivo CAR immune cell therapy for cancer treatment, the aNP platform has significant translational potential and pertinency for applications in non-malignant diseases such as autoimmune disorders and cardiovascular disease.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2025-PATHFINDEROPEN
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
5612 AE Eindhoven
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.