About SWECARNET
Sweden's CAR T Cell Competence Network (SWECARNET) is an open network that consists of key representatives in the Swedish CAR T field, i.e. those in Sweden developing, implementing or treating patients with Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR T) cells.
SWECARNET was established in 2019 as a continuation of the Swelife-ATMP SDP5 project.
The central goal is to implement gene-modified immune effector cell therapy, such as CAR T, so that patients in need, and likely to benefit, get access to new treatments independent of where in the country they are living. This either through clinical trials or as standard of care treatment.
SWECARNET serves as a workhorse for solving challenges around the implementation of these therapies and acts as a catalyst to increase the number of clinical trials for CAR T and other advanced therapy medicinal products in Sweden.
Activities
Arena for innovation: The collaboration in the network facilitates the translation of advanced therapies into clinical use by creating an arena for innovation within academia and healthcare to be generated in, and with help from industry to reach patients.
Knowledge exchange: The network serves as a platform for knowledge exchange. This is done by organizing quarterly meetings and competence increasing operations, such as education days, allowing all partners from industry, health care and academia to meet, speak and work with each other.
Clinical studies and data collection: SWECARNET also supports and facilitates research, academic and industry driven clinical studies, as well as data collection for patient follow-up.
Work packages: All members in SWECARNET are involved and work together on eight different work packages with an assigned project leader. During the quarterly meetings we work together, follow up and report the progress made in the different work packages.
Work packages
- National Coordination to increase competence by collective knowledge exchange
- Establishing a multicenter biobank and collection of information on short- and long-term outcome
- Assessing value-based health care
- Providing tools for decision-making
- Establishing hospital-based production of 3rd generation CAR T cells
- Implementing CAR T cells in standard of care
- Coordination, project management and communication
- SWECARNET spin-off projects
Funding and leadership
- Funded by: SWElife / Vinnova.
- Coordinator: SWECARNET is coordinated by the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and closely linked to the Centre for Cell therapy and Allogeneic Stem cell Transplantation (CAST) at Karolinska University Hospital.
- Led by: Professor Stephan Mielke, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset, together with Professor Gunilla Enblad, Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital.
- SWECARNET partners