Cell and Gene Therapy Leader Wins Innovation Award 2020
Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGTC) has won the 2020 Pharmaceutical Industry Network Group (PING) Innovation Award, hosted by VWV.
The PING Innovation Award recognises individuals and organisations whose innovative ideas, products, services or processes in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences sector are making a positive impact on people's lives.
Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult has brought together leading companies and specialists in the cell and gene therapy space from around the world into a newly created and purpose-built innovative environment and created a cluster that will create life changing opportunities at the centre for years to come, bringing revolutionary therapies to patients.
They have encapsulated innovation through collaboration with industry and by establishing novel operating models, schemes and technologies to help companies accelerate development and delivery of their advanced therapies to patients at reduced risk.
Companies have been able to accelerate GMP manufacture of their therapies for clinical and commercial use through the innovative operating model at the CGTC Manufacturing Centre in Stevenage; lowering business risks and reducing timelines for building in-house capabilities and gaining MHRA licensing through collaborating and benefitting from CGTC expertise and facilities - and by doing so, they have doubled the capacity of the Manufacturing Centre in under 18 months, allowing for undisrupted work for collaborators already operative within the facility and providing companies access to 6 more GMP cleanrooms to manufacture their therapies.
Paul Witcombe, Head of Enterprise and Innovation, Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said
“We are delighted that this award has gone to such a worthy winner. Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult’s manufacturing centre has had a catalysing effect on the development of the UK’s largest cell and gene cluster centred around Stevenage and the third largest globally. And if that wasn’t enough, they are currently at the forefront of the effort to manufacture millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine through the establishment of Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Braintree.
The Catapult is driving innovation, putting the UK at the forefront of advanced therapies and attracting further investment to the UK’s shores. I wish the Catapult every success for the future.”
Matthew Durdy, CEO Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult commented:
“We are honoured to accept this award recognizing the contribution of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult to innovation to the Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences sector. Thank you to PING and to all of our collaborators. The drivers behind our initiatives and innovations are life changing therapies for patients and high value employment opportunities for people across the country. We respond to the needs of the cell and gene therapy industry so this award is for the whole industry.”
Paul Gershlick, Chair of PING and Head of Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences at VWV, praised the winner:
"Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult are deserved winners of the PING Innovation Award 2020. They are leading the way in pioneering opportunities to put personalised medicine into practice. This will have a massive impact on people's lives, as well as industry, for many years to come. It is great to see also that they are providing new skilled jobs and doing all this from Hertfordshire. Congratulations to the Catapult."
Previous winners of the PING Innovation Award include Dr Harry Destecroix of Ziylo, Paul Strickland Scanner Centre, Sigma Pharmaceuticals Plc, the University of Hertfordshire, Proteus Digital Health and Leslie Morgan of Durbin Plc.