How can the cell & gene therapy sector thrive in the UK?

An Expert View from Neelam Patel, chief executive of MedCity, a not-for-profit that serves as the life sciences cluster organization for London.

A year of record global investment into cell and gene therapies, up 16% on 2020’s record £15 billion ($19.5 billion), and an unprecedented number of treatment approvals, affirms that this once-niche field is now a growing part of the biopharma industry.

But, while this is positive news for the UK’s burgeoning life sciences sector, one consequence is rocketing demand for internal and external manufacturing capacity of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). In the UK, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult GMP Manufacturing Report identified year-on-year growth within cell and gene therapy manufacturing throughout 2021, with manufacturing space increasing by 25% from 2020. Meanwhile, the UK’s new  Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF) pledges £60 million in support to commercial-scale and manufacturing investments by companies at the leading-edge of innovation, including cell and gene therapies (CGTs).