The award is given in recognition of professor Essand’s groundbreaking and world-unique research in immunotherapy, where, through advanced clinical studies, he is developing the next generation of cancer treatments.

The Swedish Cancer Society (Cancerfonden) motivates the award as follows:
“Professor Magnus Essand is named Cancer Researcher of the Year with the following motivation: For world-unique research in immunotherapy against cancer. With sharp molecular engineering, he has created innovative cell therapies that have made the full journey from the laboratory to patients, with results that save lives.”

“Magnus Essand is a pioneer in immunotherapy in Europe. His research has already led to results that have changed the lives of patients and holds the potential to cure significantly more people in the future. This is research that we believe will make a very large and real difference for cancer patients,” says Malin Sund, professor and chair of Cancerfonden’s research committee.

Magnus Essand

Magnus Essand is a professor at Uppsala University and co-founder of Elicera Therapeutics. His translational research combines gene therapy, cell therapy, and immunotherapy – with a particular focus on CAR-T treatments. His research group in Uppsala was the first in Europe to conduct CAR-T treatment in 2014. In the ongoing Phase I/IIa clinical trial CARMA, using the company’s iTANK-armed CAR T-cell therapy ELC-301, six out of eight evaluated patients have so far achieved complete metabolic response (CMR) – meaning disease-free status – one month after treatment. Of the six patients with confirmed CMR at month one, four had sustained CMR at their most recent recorded follow-up. The best responses have so far been confirmed to last up to at least 12 months.

“Immunotherapy has seen a major breakthrough over the past ten years, but we are still only at the beginning. Our goal is to develop treatments that are more precise and can cure more patients. This is the most fun and interesting thing I know—it’s both a job and a hobby,” says Magnus Essand.

The award will be presented on March 10, 2026, in connection with Cancerfonden’s 75th anniversary.