London, United Kingdom, Monday 8 January 2024: The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult), an independent innovation and technology organisation specialising in the advancement of cell and gene therapies, today announces that it is to receive £80 million of Innovate UK funding.
The funding is part of Innovate UK’s £1.6bn Catapult programme, to provide a unique combination of world leading expertise and facilities in sectors, from cell and gene therapy to digital technologies and high value manufacturing. This represents a 35% increase compared to the previous five years and will enable the Catapults to generate more impact, foster enhanced strategic coherence, and ensure optimal value for the taxpayer.
This agreement will support the CGT Catapult’s activities until March 2028 and will enable the CGT Catapult to continue its work building a thriving advanced therapies industry in the UK that delivers life-changing cell and gene therapies to the world.
The CGT Catapult operates in four locations across the UK and works with industry, academia and the healthcare system. By helping researchers with commercialising their discoveries, helping industry develop more efficient ways to manufacture advanced therapies; enabling the NHS to effectively deliver these new modalities; and providing upskilling and training for the existing and future workforce, the work of the CGT Catapult has impacted all stages of the advanced therapies lifecycle.
With this further funding, the CGT Catapult is committed to continuing its efforts, with a focus on supporting the sector to ensure that there is a strong flow of new therapies in development and coming to market; reducing the cost of making and delivering these therapies; building a robust manufacturing industry that can produce these therapies efficiently and at scale; and ensuring that there is increasing uptake and use of these therapies.
“We would like to thank our colleagues at Innovate UK for their support and the people of the CGT Catapult for their relentless commitment, as well as all of our collaborators who make our projects and delivery possible. This funding will enable us to continue our work with the advanced therapies sector, helping the industry grow, creating high productivity employment and ultimately helping more patients receive the life-changing cell and gene therapies they need.”
Matthew Durdy, Chief Executive of the CGT Catapult