Regener8 and the Medical Technologies Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) recently played host to the Cell Therapy Catapult on their visit to Leeds.
4 March 2015 – The Cell Therapy Catapult was established in 2012 as a centre of excellence in innovation, with the core purpose of building a world-leading cell therapy industry in the UK. Supported by Innovate UK (formerly known as the Technology Strategy Board), their mission is to drive the growth of the industry by helping cell therapy organisations across the world translate early stage research into commercially viable and investable therapies.
The visit was attended by Professor Johan Hyllner (Chief Scientific Officer), Chris Herbert (Business Development Executive) and Ricardo Baptista (Senior Scientist Process Development) – who were hosted by Regener8 and the Medical Technologies IKC in Leeds on 27 February.
The Cell Therapy Catapult team met withAcademic Director Professor John Fisher, Regener8 Operations Director Mike Raxworthy, Director of Innovation Jo Dixon-Hardy, along with key research leaders in the field from theUniversity of Leeds to share information on key strategies, core technologies, exemplar projects and case studies. A productive round table discussion took place followed by a networking lunch allowing attendees the opportunity to discuss these matters in greater detail.
Professor Johan Hyllner, Chief Scientific Officer from the Cell Therapy Catapult said: “The Cell Therapy Catapult vision is for the UK to be a global leader in the development, delivery and commercialisation of cell therapy. The UK is a great place for businesses to start, grow and confidently develop cell therapies, delivering them to patients rapidly, efficiently and effectively and I feel Leeds’ core strengths in the development of novel regenerative devices such as scaffolds and smart biomaterials can support the Cell Therapy Catapult in bringing therapies into clinical use.”
The day concluded with a discussion on proposals for next steps with consideration being given to holding a mini conference later in the year.