Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult to recruit new Chief Executive

Keith Thompson will retire in April 2020 having established the company in 2012

The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) has announced Chief Executive Officer, Keith Thompson, will retire in April 2020. The company said the process to appoint his successor will start shortly.

Thompson established the CGT Catapult in 2012. He has dedicated eight years to building a cell and gene therapy industry in the UK. He has built a team of over 200 cell and gene therapy experts in state-of-the-art laboratories in London and a unique large-scale manufacturing centre in Stevenage forming Europe’s largest cluster of Cell and gene therapy companies.

“It has been my absolute pleasure to serve as Chief Executive of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and grow it from just an idea to the major force it has become," Thompson said. "I am immensely proud of what we have achieved at the Catapult and it has been a privilege to work with such talented colleagues across the whole organisation and with many partners and collaborators," he added.

Going forward, Thompson intends to stay engaged with the industry with a portfolio of activities.

Thompson is also currently a Director of the UK Bio Industry Association, a Director of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and serves on the ISCT Strategic Advisory Council. His career has spanned leadership positions in Biotechnology companies in the UK and US as well as the Scottish National Blood transfusion Service prior to the CGT Catapult.

John Brown, Chairman of the CGT Catapult, said: "Keith has done a magnificent job in leading and developing the CGT Catapult into the world-leading organisation it is today. It has been a privilege to work with him. There are few people with his breadth and depth of experience, and I hope we will see his continued involvement in other roles in this fast-growing sector."

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