UK gene therapy hub network awarded £18m in funding

Medical research charity LifeArc and the Medical Research Council (MRC) have announced three investments totalling £18m for the creation of a UK network of gene therapy hubs.

The funding, announced with support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), will be used to help create three dedicated facilities to advance the clinical development of new gene therapy treatments.

The three hubs will be located at King’s College London, NHS Blood and Transplant in Bristol and the University of Sheffield.

The ‘Innovation Hubs’ will allow academic-led clinical trials of novel gene therapies to be conducted; academics have previously found it difficult to get access to the clinical materials, facilities and expertise needed to advance gene therapy research into the clinic, according to LifeArc.

The hubs will offer access to GMP facilities for clinical trial materials, as well as translational support and regulatory advice.

They will also operate as a ‘coordinated network’ by sharing technical skills and resources to enable gene therapy research.

“Recent innovations in gene therapies hold enormous potential for treating conditions such as rare diseases, but often promising ideas – particularly in academia – are not making it through to patients,” said Melanie Lee, chief executive officer of LifeArc.

“Through our collaboration, we aim to meet the need for researchers to have access to the essential facilities and translational advice to progress promising research,” she added.

The hubs are set to manufacture commonly used vectors for gene therapies including lentivirus and adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors required for clinical trials.

The network will also design and share ‘commercially ready’ platforms by using common cell-lines, plasmids and reagents in a bid to cut costs, enable simplified licensing agreements and streamline regulatory reviews.

“The new network of Innovation Hubs for gene therapies will build on the UK’s great strengths in this area, providing targeted investment in vital infrastructure to accelerate academic research programmes down the path to patient benefit, supporting the delivery of a new wave of genetic medicines,” commented Fiona Watt, executive chair of MRC.