Diversifying Sources of Innovation

 Academic centers have always been the source of and the driver behind cell and gene therapy (CGT) innovations, but this is changing.

Observation of recent innovations indicates that two industries started to participate in innovation, contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) and consultancies.

While some CGT professionals might argue that CDMOs and consultancies are not prepared to be sources of innovations because (1) they lack the structure that support creating and sustaining of innovations, and (2) CDMOs and consultancies are for-profit organizations and are not intended for education.

Other CGT professionals, myself included, think the participation of CDMOs and consultancies in innovation creation can potentially facilitate the CGT progress because (1) this participation would increase the pool of innovations being tested, and therefore, would potentially increase the net number of successful therapies. Additionally, (2) this participation would positively impact the CGT ecosystem by diversifying the innovation sources, hence, improving the ecosystem’s chances of being efficient.

About the author

Naseem Almezel, earned his MSc degree in Cellular Therapies in 2010, since then his career focus is to support Bone Marrow Transplant and Oncology programs. Naseem likes to work in the lab doing translational research, or in the cleanroom doing GMP production. When he is not working, Naseem likes to read and to spend time outdoors. Find more about Naseem here