Innovative Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult Manufacturing Centre Opens in Stevenage
The Business Secretary Greg Clark and Science Minister Sam Gyimah were there to officially cut the ribbon and open the centre to 'bridge the gap' between scientific research and commercialisation of the medicines of the future.
Based at the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst site, the plant operates to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards for clinical product manufacturing, and will provide the global Advanced Therapeutics industry with infrastructure to develop manufacturing capability and systems for large-scale cell and gene therapy clinical studies, and accelerate their commercialisation. The centre will also supply the network of world-first, UK-based Advanced Therapies Treatment Centres (ATTCs).
This centre is a key part of the Government's Life Sciences Industrial Strategy and has received £60m in public funding.
Greg Clark commented: "Through our Industrial Strategy we are determined to boost innovation, create new highly skilled jobs and use government investment to change people’s lives for the better. This unique new centre will bring together our expertise in medicines manufacturing with our world-beating science and research base to create revolutionary treatments that fight diseases like cancer and save lives. We are determined to make the UK the most innovative nation in the world through our Industrial Strategy and its Grand Challenges which is why we are investing a record £7 billion in R&D by 2021, the highest increase in 40 years, and have committed to investing 2.4% of GDP on R&D by 2027."
Cell and gene therapies provide revolutionary treatments that can repair, replace, regenerate and re-engineer genes, cells and tissues to restore their normal function or enhance their ability to fight diseases such as cancer. Through turning cell and gene therapy innovations into commercially viable new medicines, the CGT Catapult is supporting routine delivery of these therapies to hospitals, clinics and patients around the world.
In welcoming Autolus, Cell Medica, AdaptImmune, Freeline and Thermo Fisher Scientific as the initial collaborators at the site, CGT Catapult's CEO, Keith Thompson, said: "These companies have international activities and choices, and have chosen to develop European-based manufacturing in the UK. The manufacturing centre is integral to the development of a thriving global cell and gene therapy industry. This is an area of medicine that has shown potential for decades and we now need new manufacturing technology like never before. The centre is a major statement of intent and a springboard for industry in its global development."
Comment
The government set out an ambitious Industrial Strategy for the future of Life Sciences in 2017. The UK is leading the world in gene therapies and this official opening in Hertfordshire, within the heart of the Golden Triangle, is seeing this ambition start to come to fruition.