Imperial to join ATTC Network
Imperial has joined the Advanced Therapies Treatment Centre (ATTC) Network which aims to accelerate the delivery of cell and gene therapy via clinical trials to NHS patients in London.
The London ATTC will be made up of: Imperial College London, King's College London, Queen Mary University of London and University College London (UCL) and their partner NHS Trusts.
The London ATTC will work alongside its partner Trusts to improve the infrastructure for advanced therapy clinical trials. This will involve increasing the number and speed of these kinds of trials, as well as helping more patients take part to access potentially life-changing cell and gene treatments. The London hub joins the other ATTCs across the UK: Innovate Manchester Advanced Therapy Centre Hub, Midlands-Wales ATTC, and the Northern Alliance ATTC.
The national ATTC network is coordinated by the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) and receives funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and through Innovate UK.
Advanced therapies are novel medicines based on genes, cells or tissue engineered products, often for rare or neglected diseases. Imperial College has brought together its cross-Faculty community involved in relevant research as the Imperial Centre for Advanced Therapies (CAT).
Academic teams and clinicians work closely together to translate these novel treatments which are delivered within the associated Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and the Royal Brompton Hospital. The work is supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Imperial Biomedical Research Centre (BRC).
Professor Eric Alton, Director of the Imperial Centre for Advanced Therapies, said: "This opportunity for the UK Gene and Cell Therapy community to come together will place patients with unmet clinical needs centre stage in terms of speeding up their equitable access to exciting new treatments. Imperial College is proud to play a part in this new initiative.'
Professor Mark Thursz, Director of the Academic Health Science Centre at Imperial College London, said: "Imperial is one of many centres in London who are developing cell and gene therapies. Participating in the London Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre will accelerate the clinical development of innovative treatments for the benefit of our patients."
Professor Uta Griesenbach, Co-director, Imperial Centre for Advanced Therapies and Director (NE) of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, said "I am happy to see the London centres joining the wider ATTC network. This will provide exciting opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaborative R&D, which will not only benefit patients but also UK plc."
Michelle Cadby, Programme Manager for the Imperial Centre for Advanced Therapies, said: 'The partnership with the London ATTC brings an exciting opportunity to build on the foundation of work done by the London Advanced Therapeutics (LAT) with a focus on enhancing the framework for advanced therapy clinical trials. I am thrilled to be part of this initiative and look forward to working with the Network to help accelerate patient access to advanced therapies."
