News & Events

On Friday 10th March 2023, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) opened its new Clinical Biotechnology Centre (CBC) facility in Filton, Bristol. The new CBC facility was built with a near £10m Government grant and was designed to expand the UK’s ability to make the products needed to support early phase clinical trials and pre-clinical work for cell and gene therapies, providing a route to eventual commercial scale production.

In October, Dr Sophie Mountcastle (Innovation Hubs Network Manager) and Dr Anji Miller (LifeArc Senior Business Partner and Innovation Hubs Lead) attended the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT) 29th Annual Congress in Edinburgh to launch a new survey on behalf of the Innovation Hubs for Gene Therapies. The purpose of the survey is to find out more about the novel gene therapies being developed within the UK academic community, and specifically to understand the requirements for GMP viral vectors for early-phase clinical trials.

Construction has finished on the pioneering Innovation Hub for Gene Therapies. The new building will advance scientific discoveries into promising treatment options for millions of patients with life-threatening diseases.

One year on, we report on the progress made to date to establish a national network of Innovation Hubs for Gene Therapies to advance promising academic research into life-changing new medicines for patients.

Sven Kili explains why he got involved and how the network will advance promising research into new treatments for patients.