Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help support research into cell and gene therapy in Scotland.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK is a world-leader in the development and manufacture of cell and gene therapies thanks to government investment in innovation and skills, including through the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGTC).
DSIT also invested £10 million - alongside £10 million from Scottish Enterprise – to support a new Oligonucleotide Manufacturing Innovation Centre of Excellence in Glasgow.
The Vaccine Taskforce provided funding for a state-of-the art CGTC facility in Braintree to accelerate the development and manufacturing of advanced therapies at clinical and commercial scale.
My department also supported CGTC to establish apprenticeships and training programmes to upskill people across the UK.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to increase Scotland’s (a) manufacturing capacity for and (b) delivery of cell and gene therapies.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is investing significantly to support manufacturing and delivery of cell and gene therapies.
Since 2021, government has launched three UK-wide capital grant schemes – up to £118 million of funds – to incentivise manufacturing investments, including in advanced therapies. Last year, government announced a further £520 million to increase investment in Life Sciences manufacturing.
The UK is a world-leader in the development and manufacture of cell and gene therapies thanks to government investment in innovation and skills, including through the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult which also coordinates the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre network.