A vision to double the number of patients treated with car t-cell therapy by 2030
By Pharmalive.com
June 16, 2025 – CAR T-cell therapy represents one of the most transformative advances in cancer treatment over the past decade, offering hope for durable remissions and potential cure in patients with certain aggressive and advanced blood cancers. But despite its promise — and more than seven years of availability in the United States for certain blood cancers — access to this potential life-saving treatment remains frustratingly limited. Today, only about two out of 10 eligible patients in the United States and in Europe receive access to CAR T-cell therapy, a stark gap that underscores significant barriers within our healthcare systems. As a medical oncologist who has seen firsthand the life-changing impact CAR T-cell therapy can have on patient lives, I believe we must address these barriers head-on.
Current barriers
The challenges we face are multifaceted. While extensive clinical trials with long-term follow-up, in addition to real-world evidence studies, have demonstrated impressive long-term survival rates and even curative potential for CAR T-cell therapies, delays in referral, limited capacity at specialized treatment centers, lack of awareness among healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients, logistical burdens including travel and financial costs, and complex reimbursement landscapes all contribute to the access gap. These obstacles are particularly notable because timing matters; treatment delays can compromise patient eligibility and ultimately impact patient outcomes. The complexity of delivering CAR T-cell therapy — requiring highly specialized infrastructure and multidisciplinary coordination — further compounds these issues, especially outside major academic centers.
CAR T Vision
When it comes to treating these potentially deadly cancers, every day counts. It is against this backdrop that an independent Steering Committee comprised of leaders from North American and European patient advocacy groups, medical society organizations, academic and community treatment centers, and health technology assessment (HTA), policy, and other subject matter experts have come together to create CAR T Vision. CAR T Vision is an international coalition that aims to unite stakeholders across healthcare, advocacy, research, and policy around a shared goal: to double the proportion of eligible patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy by 2030. Through collaborative action and measurable goals, we aim for every eligible patient to get the opportunity for cure with CAR T-cell therapy.
A roadmap for change
This ambitious goal reflects both the urgency and scale of change required. Together with the Steering Committee and other experts, we have developed a new roadmap report which lays the foundation for advocacy and action by local stakeholders to address the specific access challenges faced by patients in different geographies.
Addressing these barriers requires coordinated, multi-stakeholder action focused on three key priorities:
Increasing awareness and understanding of CAR T-cell therapy so that HCPs can identify eligible patients early and refer to specialists with urgency; patients and caregivers understand benefits, risk and logistical and financial considerations; and policymakers and payors understand the value so that they can collaborate with stakeholders to address systemic barriers.
Expanding resources and capacity to deliver CAR T-cell therapy, involving decentralized delivery models to bring care closer to patients; formalized processes and dedicated resources for patient referral; harmonized manufacturing requirements; streamlined qualification processes for treatment centers; and forecasting and demand planning process established to support staff and expand capacity.
Developing sustainable and innovative financing approaches to manage the costs of treatment and care, including establishing economic models that ensure CAR T-cell therapy budget impact can be mitigated in the long-term by reductions in healthcare spending; real-world data to support decision making on its clinical and economic value; innovative and sustainable contracting models; timely reimbursement that covers hospital treatment and care; and reductions in total cost of care, expanded access and innovative financing partnerships.
To realize the Vision, we need to see action across these three areas. The Vision goals will provide a framework for action through expert working groups, comprised of members of the steering committee and additional experts, that will define specific objectives, actions and progress indicators to turn the Vision into local action. Other individuals and organizations may also use these Vision goals to guide their own efforts to drive progress.
A growing coalition
To date, the CAR T Vision and roadmap report have been endorsed by leading organizations including Advanced Practitioner Society of Hematology and Oncology (APSHO), Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI), Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC), Barts Cancer Center, Cancer Care, Cancer Support Community, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult), Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), International Myeloma Foundation, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and Lymphoma Coalition, demonstrating the consensus around its goals.
A call to action
In short, more patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy means more patients cured. But it’s going to take a broad coalition of stakeholders working together to make CAR T Vision a reality. That’s why we are calling on patient and caregiver organizations, HCPs, payors, HTA bodies, regulators, policymakers, legislators, and industry, to review the report and consider how you can contribute to joint efforts to ensure more eligible patients get access to CAR T-cell therapy in the next five years. Visit www.CARTVision.com to review the roadmap report and join us. Together, we can double the number of eligible patients treated by 2030 and bring the promise of cure to many more patients.