29 June 2021 The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) have announced their expansion to Scotland, with offices and laboratories to be located at the Institute for Regeneration and Repair (IRR).CGT Catapult is an independent centre of excellence, designed to advance the growth of the UK cell and gene therapy industry by bridging the gap between scientific research and full-scale commercialisation. It works with partners in academia and industry to ensure that life-changing therapies can be developed for use in health services throughout the world. With this expansion, CGT Catapult aims to provide additional regionally focussed support to the cell and gene therapy sector to accelerate product development, trial and adoption. CGT Catapult Edinburgh is a collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. It will help to act as a backbone of translational expertise of the UK, to provide practical advice to enable technology development, Good Manufacturing Practice translation and clinical trial acceleration to drive company formation and spin-out for the sector in Scotland and the North of England.The Centre will be led by Dr Jacqueline Barry (Chief Clinical Officer at CGT Catapult) and will work with the strong academic and Pharma-services community in central Scotland to drive advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMP) cluster formation and further build the UK’s prominence in ATMP development and supply.It will be based at the Institute for Regeneration and Repair, a new research Institute that aims to develop regenerative therapies and drive them into the clinic. The Institute is ideally placed at the heart of the Edinburgh BioQuarter with its own an integrated Cell Therapy facility. This is excellent news for the University of Edinburgh. We have made considerable progress towards translation of cell and gene therapies into the clinic and the expansion of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult provides a great opportunity to boost these endeavours.Professor Stuart Forbes, Director, Institute for Regeneration and Repair We are excited to be expanding the CGT Catapult’s presence in Scotland through today’s agreement with the University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh has developed an excellent academic base and the Institute for Regeneration and Repair is projected to have the largest accumulation of stem cell scientists in Europe (~500). We look forward to building on this local expertise and growing existing infrastructure to create a cluster for the cell and gene therapy industry in Scotland and the North of England which will help bring these life changing therapies to patients and will create economic opportunity in region.Matthew Durdy, Chief Executive Officer, CGT Catapult We look forward to welcoming the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult as members of the Edinburgh BioQuarter community. It is another feather in the cap for our expanding expertise in advanced therapies, one of the key health innovation pillars of our growing ecosystem. BioQuarter, as a leading innovation location, is the perfect place for CGT Catapult Edinburgh to work with researchers and health innovation businesses to translate, test and nurture new ideas at scale, at pace and on time.Anna Stamp, Interim Programme Director, Edinburgh BioQuarter This article was published on 2024-02-26
