The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult), an independent centre of excellence to advance the growth of the UK cell and gene therapy industry, by bridging the gap between scientific research and full-scale commercialisation, has announced that it will set up offices and laboratories in Edinburgh, Scotland. With this expansion CGT Catapult aims to provide additional, regionally focused support to the cell and gene therapy sector to accelerate product development, clinical trials and adoption.

CGT Catapult Edinburgh is a collaboration with the University of Edinburgh and will be located at the Institute for Regeneration and Repair in the heart of the Edinburgh BioQuarter. CGT Catapult Edinburgh will help to act as a backbone of translational expertise of the UK, to provide practical advice to enable technology development, GMP 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 pharmaceutical services community in central Scotland to drive advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) cluster formation and further build the UK’s prominence in ATMP development and supply.

The UK has become the ‘go-to’ place for cell and gene therapy development in Europe, and boasts a complete cell and gene therapy ecosystem. Today’s announcement reinforces this position by drawing on the specific strengths of Edinburgh and the surrounding region.

Matthew Durdy, CEO, CGT Catapult, said: “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, with nearly 500 currently located there. We

look forward to building on this local expertise and growing the existing infrastructure to create a cluster for the cell and gene therapy industry in Scotland and the North of England. This will help bring these potentially life changing therapies to patients and help create economic opportunity in region.”