UK maintains status as an attractive destination for advanced therapy clinical trials

Matthew Durdy, CEO of the CGT Catapult, commented: “Clinical trials are not only vital to the research and healthcare industries in the UK, but provide people with invaluable access to potentially life-changing therapies.”

“We will continue our work at the CGT Catapult, the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres network and with key industry partners, to ensure that the UK has the infrastructure and skills needed to deliver these trials safely and quickly.”

The database shows that the number of ongoing advanced therapy medicinal product (ATMP) clinical trials in the UK has remained largely stable over the past three years with 175 trials ongoing in 2023, compared to 178 in 2022, and 168 in 2021.

This relative stability in the UK contrasts with the approximate 10% decline in ongoing global ATMP clinical trials that were observed from January to December 2023.

The research also provides a breakdown of the type of trial underway in the UK, and shows that oncology was the dominant therapeutic area, accounting for 41% of trials.

Similar to 2022, the majority of the ATMP clinical trials in the UK were gene therapies, 76%, followed by somatic-cell therapies at 19%.