Vectors are one of the essential elements of the MILenARI project, as they make it possible to share CAR-T technology among the different Mediterranean countries participating in the initiative.
Vectors are one of the essential elements of the MILenARI project, as they make it possible to share CAR-T technology among the different Mediterranean countries participating in the initiative.
The MILenARI project, co-funded by the Interreg NEXT MED programme, cannot be understood without the central role of lentiviral vectors: viruses that allow that T-cells become genetically modified so that they incorporate the genetic information necessary for the patient’s immune cells to recognize and attack cancer cells
This step is fundamental to CAR-T therapy, which uses the patient’s own immune cells to fight cancer; but also, a key element of the MILenARI project, which precisely aims to share these vectors among various hospitals in the Mediterranean area, with the goal of decentralizing their production and establishing a network of producers both inside and outside the European Union.
Alongside the associated manufacturing know-how, vectors are the main elements shared between the institutions participating in the MILenARI project (Clínic-IDIBAPS in Spain, King Hussein Cancer Center in Jordan, the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, and the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Italy). Each of these hospitals works locally with the cells of its own patients, while receiving the technology and expertise needed to produce the therapy autonomously.
Through this transfer of vectors and technical knowledge, the project promotes a more decentralised and collaborative model of academic CAR-T therapies, directly contributing to strengthening regional capacities for the production of advanced immunotherapies.
Precisely because of their cross-cutting importance, one of the current challenges of the project is the difficulty of shipping these vectors due to geopolitical instability in some of the participating countries, such as Lebanon and Jordan, as was already highlighted in early April in this article.
Last Update
03/06/2026
Next Med