Impact of EU Referendum vote on gene and cell therapy in the UK

In a new editorial published in Human Gene Therapy, leading researchers call for urgent action to ensure continued access to critical funding and ongoing collaborative opportunities with the broader scientific community in the European Union.

Following the recent referendum vote on Europe  researchers have publicly outlined the threat to crucial scientific progress and clinical advances in the development of innovative gene and cell therapies.

In the article “Impact of BREXIT on UK Gene and Cell Therapy: The Need for Continued Pan-European Collaboration,” Professor Adrian Thrasher, from the Great Ormond Street UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH) – along with co-authors Professor Andrew Baker, University of Edinburgh, Professor Robin Ali, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London – emphasise the need for a rapid response to alleviate the current uncertainty, which is “potentially harmful, for both building and maintaining scientific interactions,” and “to avoid loss of momentum in a rapidly developing field.”

The UK is a leading force in both the basic science and clinical translation of gene and cell therapies. Historically the EU has invested substantially to drive scientific advances which depends on ongoing collaboration and mobility across national borders for research, training and clinical studies.