UK Holds Appeal for Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trials, According to Latest Data

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) has revealed in a Jan. 15, 2020 press release that the United Kingdom is a favorable environment for cell and gene therapy clinical trials with the country experiencing growth in the number of trials in 2019 compared with 2018.

As highlighted in the press release, CGT Catapult presented the latest UK Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs) clinical trials database, demonstrating an increase in the number of cell and gene therapy clinical trials of 45% in 2019 compared with 2018. The latest data show that the UK now accounts for 12% of the total global cell and gene therapy clinical studies.

Drivers of the growth are reported as being a favorable environment, provided by the National Health Service (NHS) and UK ecosystem, which are enabling progression of innovative therapies to the clinic in greater numbers. Additionally, thanks to the favorable environment offered in the UK, more investment is being gained from international companies, leading to commercial sponsorship of more than half of the currently ongoing trials.

“The total number of cell and gene therapy clinical trials in the UK has been increasing consistently by an average of 25% year on year since 2013. This has been enabled by the development of the UKs fantastic ecosystem to support the development and clinical adoption of cell and gene therapies,” said Keith Thompson, CEO, CGT Catapult, in the press release. “The infrastructure and initiatives that have been put in place, with strong backing by the government, including the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres network, are giving companies the confidence to setup and run their innovative clinical studies here. The result, is that we are now seeing therapies moving from academic projects towards becoming commercial products that can be delivered at scale by the NHS.”

Source: CGT Catapult