Six months after the kick-off meeting that launched the project, MILenARI reaches its first milestone. This summer, the cross-border Mediterranean network moves from the initial setup to a fully active phase.
After half a year of coordination work between Spain, Jordan Lebanon and Italy, the structure of the MILenARI enters this summer into a new phase. Being this first six months about aligning the teams, standardizing clinical protocols, and preparing the infrastructure across borders, now the project enters a new phase in which the work is showing results. The planned shipment of the first vectors is being ultimated, as explained in this previous article, and partner hospital laboratories such as the ones in Beirut or Amman are ready to receive the knowledge transfer.
Achieving this timeline and keeping the project strictly on track during this first half-year has been a major achievement for the consortium (which is led by Clínic-IDIBAPS in partnership with the King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan; the American University of Beirut in Lebanon; and the Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù in Italy). The resilience of this scientific network faced a critical test around month three, when the escalating conflict in Lebanon threatened to freeze logistics and disrupt scheduled milestones. Despite the regional challenges, the solid coordination established since day one allowed the partnership to maintain the timeline without delays.
The project now enters a new stage focused on practical execution. The main goals for the upcoming semester will shift from preparation to execution, focusing on completing the technology transfer inside the Middle Eastern cleanrooms and initiating the in-situ validation processes to manufacture academic CAR-T therapies locally. Half a year after the launch, this first balance proves that MILenARI is a functioning network of public science working to bring affordable cancer therapies to the Mediterranean.
Last Update
08/07/2026
Next Med