With funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Innovate UK, this will build on the ATTC network’s work improving advanced therapy clinical trial readiness and help ensure the UK maintains its position as a globally attractive location for clinical research. The consultation is now open and is inviting input from stakeholders in life sciences and across the NHS.

Advanced therapies are innovative new medicines based on genes, cells or tissue replacement. These therapies treat the root cause of a range of diseases or disorders including cancer, sickle cell disease and spinal muscular atrophy.

Although the UK is a world leader in clinical research – with representation in 9.5% of global advanced therapy trials[1] – further action is needed to ensure that the NHS can deliver these therapies to patients at pace and scale; and this includes upskilling the workforce that supports these trials across the UK.

To support this aim, the ATTC network, which is coordinated by the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, is working with Skills for Health – the sector skills council for healthcare – to develop the field’s first ever national capability framework.

The capability framework will outline the knowledge, skills and competencies required for both established and future job roles that involve advanced therapies. Frameworks for other staff groups are already used widely across the NHS to plan, support and fund recruitment, training and career development initiatives.

A first iteration of the advanced therapy clinical trials framework has been drafted by the ATTC network expert reference group, ahead of its anticipated publication early next year. A public consultation on the proposal has now opened and is inviting input from representative stakeholders in life sciences and across the NHS.

Share your thoughts on the draft framework here

Fiona Thistlethwaite, Medical Oncologist at The Christie, and Director of iMATCH, part of the ATTC network, is a member of the expert working group responsible for developing the framework. She comments:

“The advanced therapies clinical trials competency framework is central to ATTC’s training programme and supporting growth and scaling up of the workforce.

“Training and education are critical NHS workforce enablers for the delivery of advanced therapy trials to meet the needs of patients, trial sponsors and NHS organisations across the UK. The framework helps to fulfil this objective by providing an agreed upon and standardised reference point for the training, development and funding of future advanced therapies careers.”

Vicky Yearsley, Senior Manager – Qualifications and National Occupational Standards at Skills for Health, comments:

“The creation of a capability framework, as part of a national Advanced Therapy Training and Education programme will help address the existing challenge around a lack of advanced therapy-specific knowledge for trial delivery, research and support services workforces.

“Having a framework in place is a significant step towards an expansion of the workforce dedicated to advanced therapy clinical trials and scaling up delivery of gene and cell therapy treatments across the NHS.”

Finn Willingham, Northern-Alliance ATTC Operations Manager and Chair (Exec) of the ATTC network Training and Education Board, comments:

“With the substantive detail of the framework mapped out, this consultation stage has been launched to capture the views of stakeholders and ensure that the final resource is robust and fit for purpose.

“We therefore welcome representations from stakeholders across life sciences, the NHS and wider to ensure that the framework meets the needs of the sector and reflects latest advancements in the field.”

Stakeholders are invited to feedback on the proposed advanced therapy clinical trials framework by the closing date of 2 February 2026: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8609067/Advanced-Therapy-Medicinal-Products-Clinical-Trials-Capability-Framework-Consultation

Notes

About the ATTC network

The ATTC network addresses the unique and complex challenges of bringing pioneering advanced therapy medicinal products to patients. The network, coordinated by the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, consists of a UK wide group of Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres operating within the NHS framework. Find out more here https://www.theattcnetwork.co.uk/

About the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult is an independent innovation and technology organisation committed to the advancement of the cell and gene therapy industry with a vision of a thriving industry delivering life changing advanced therapies to the world. Its aim is to create powerful collaborations which overcome challenges to the advancement of the sector. The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult was established by, and is working in partnership with, Innovate UK. For more information, please visit https://ct.catapult.org.uk/ or https://www.ukri.org/councils/innovate-uk/.

Contact: Alice Deeley, communications and content manager, alice.deeley@ct.catapult.org.uk

About NIHR

The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:

• Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
• Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
• Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
• Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
• Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
• Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.

NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.

About Innovate UK

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the UK’s innovation agency. It works to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. Its mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.

[1] https://ct.catapult.org.uk/news/70-increase-in-phase-i-advanced-therapy-clinical-trials-in-the-uk-in-2024