A new cooperative network designed to foster collaboration and boost the sharing of knowledge and expertise for the UK’s advanced therapies sector has been launched.
The ‘Scottish Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) and Vaccines Network’ specifically targets researchers in the north of the UK and will coordinate events, talks from industry leaders and networking opportunities for the advanced therapies industry. It has been launched by the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT) with support from Scottish Enterprise.
The network will also develop a directory of companies working in advanced therapies in the region, including details on their expertise and offerings. Through the directory, the CGT catapult hopes to create a source of information that helps organisations connect with each other and which encourages partnerships between academia and industry.
With over 700 life sciences organisations in Scotland, the CGT catapult believes there is an opportunity to build an ecosystem and community in the north of the UK which facilitates crucial knowledge exchange and helps organisations connect with others, helping organisations work together to bring more potentially life-changing treatments to patients.
Matthew Durdy, Chief Executive of the CGT Catapult, said: “Scotland has a strong life sciences sector. When people in our industry come together to learn and exchange ideas, with each other and with visiting speakers, powerful collaborations emerge. We believe this Scottish Enterprise supported initiative will result in an even stronger sector and exciting new technologies.”
Victoria Carmichael, Commercial Director at Scottish Enterprise, added: “This network is sure to have a hugely positive effect on the work of the CGT Catapult. We’re really keen to see increased collaboration between our innovative advanced therapies companies and more partnerships working with universities and colleges – because we know that great things happen when knowledge, expertise and ideas are shared.”
The launch of the network follows the opening of CGT Catapult’s site in the Edinburgh BioQuarter in June 2023.
