On Monday 23 January 2017, as the UK Government launched their Industrial Strategy Green Paper we welcomed Lord Prior of Brampton, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to our London offices and laboratories.
Keith Thompson, CEO of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult said:
We had a productive, in-depth discussion about what we do here, how we collaborate to develop cell and gene therapies products and how we have helped the growth of the industry in the UK. We went through our ways of working with companies and researchers and how we help them get products further towards and into the clinic, turning innovative ideas into real treatments. We also covered cell and gene therapies in terms of patient outcomes and how they have the potential to be curative and life changing. The minister also spent time with some of our young scientists, hearing about what they are working on and the opportunities they see for cell and gene therapies.
It was also the day that the Government launched its Green Paper on Industrial Strategy and we hope that, after this visit, the minister has a good idea of how we fit into the puzzle when it comes to delivering an advantageous environment for the growth of the cell and gene therapy industry in the UK.
Following the disscussion Lord Prior was given a tour of our state-of-the-art laboratories and had the chance to speak with some of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult staff about the projects they are working on. You can see some photos taken on the day below:
CEO Keith Thompson highlights the state-of-the-art technology in use in the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult laboratories
Lord Prior spoke to Head of Analytical Development, Dr Damian Marshall, about analytics and the role of analytical development
Lead Process Development Scientist, Dr Adeyemi Afuwape, explained to Lord Prior about the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult's ongoing immunotherapy programmes
Dr Daria Popova, Senior Manufacturing Scientist, spoke to Lord Prior about viral vector scale-up
Dr Ryan McCoy, Senior Process Development Scientist, spoke to Lord Prior about the GMP proving lab and technology transfer