COVID-19 and cell and gene therapy: How to keep innovation on track
Cell and gene therapies promise life-changing treatments, but the pandemic has hit the sector hard. A survey reveals the extent of the disruption and suggests actions to help companies become more resilient.
Cell and gene therapies (CGTs) are at the forefront of innovation to treat severe diseases, such as cancer, as well as rare diseases. Several such therapies are now on the market, including LUXTURNA, a treatment for an inherited retinal disease that causes blindness. That particular CGT represents an important medical milestone: it was the first curative gene therapy approved for use.
Many other CGTs are now in development. More than 750 trials of CGTs in almost 30,000 patients were underway as of June 2020, and CGT products account for some 12 percent of the pharmaceutical industry’s clinical pipeline and at least 16 percent of its preclinical pipeline.1 All that activity reflects the hope that CGTs will expand the still-limited treatment options available to many patients and transform the clinical paradigm. But the COVID-19 crisis has severely disrupted the sector.
While all biopharmaceutical companies have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, many CGT companies have been hit particularly hard because of their complex manufacturing and delivery model and their funding model. Both have proved to be fragile. A survey of executives at 20 European and US CGT companies reveals the extent of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis and suggests how companies might respond—both to withstand the crisis and to lay the ground for success in a postpandemic world.2 The actions companies take could prove critical for today’s patients undergoing CGT and for those likely to benefit from the next wave of innovation that CGT companies are pursuing.
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Πηγή: mckinsey
