Our Take
Continuous bioprocessing for gene therapy is not new; what matters is that an independent lab has shown it works as well as batch in real conditions, opening a genuine alternative for manufacturers stuck in yield bottlenecks.
Why it matters
Gene therapy manufacturers face hard tradeoffs between batch simplicity and output capacity. A proven continuous option that doesn't sacrifice recovery rates gives them a real choice for scaling to more patients without building new facilities.
Do this week
Manufacturing ops: contact the CGT Catapult or your CDMO this month to understand where continuous perfusion + multi-column chromatography makes sense in your pipeline before your next capacity review.
U.K. Innovation Lab Demonstrates Continuous Bioprocess for Gene Therapies
The Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Catapult, a publicly-funded innovation center in the U.K., has built and tested a continuous bioprocessing platform for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), particularly gene therapies. The platform combines upstream perfusion technology with downstream clarification and multi-column chromatography, followed by polishing steps informed by digital modeling.
Recovery rates and overall performance matched or slightly exceeded traditional batch processing, according to Bilal Ozdoganoglu, an associate senior scientist at the Catapult who presented the work at the Bioprocessing Summit Europe in March. The platform is not yet commercial; the Catapult is actively seeking collaborators including therapy developers, vendors, automation suppliers, and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) to further develop and validate it.
Batch Processing Will Not Go Away, But Continuous Offers a Credible Alternative
Gene therapy manufacturing has been constrained by low yields and productivity in batch systems. Continuous bioprocessing, long standard in monoclonal antibody (mAb) manufacturing, has faced adoption friction in the gene therapy space because the chemistry and handling differ meaningfully. Multi-column chromatography, routine for biologics, is still relatively new in gene therapy purification.
The Catapult's work addresses the skepticism directly: they adapted proven continuous techniques to gene therapy conditions using digital modeling to predict and tune parameters. Because they achieved comparable or better recovery rates than batch, manufacturers now have a credible option for increasing throughput without abandoning yield margins. This matters for patient access. Higher productivity per unit of manufacturing space and equipment means more patients can be treated per production run, a direct economic incentive for adoption.
Ozdoganoglu explicitly stated: "We're not going to get rid of batch processing, but it is another tool for people to use when developing and manufacturing gene therapies." That framing is honest. Batch is simpler, lower-risk for first-time runs, and proven. Continuous requires capital in equipment and process know-how. The decision belongs to each manufacturer based on their volume targets and risk appetite.
What Manufacturers Should Do Now
If you are a gene therapy manufacturer or CDMO planning for scale-up in the next 18–24 months, add continuous bioprocessing to your technical roadmap before the bottleneck forces you into a reactive decision. The CGT Catapult has published validation that the approach works; waiting for a commercial vendor to build the platform delays your advantage.
Contact the Catapult or a CDMO partner with continuous biology experience to assess where in your pipeline (upstream perfusion, downstream capture, or both) a shift to continuous could unlock capacity without capital-intensive facility expansion. The economics of continuous improve at higher volumes, so be clear about your patient population size and treatment frequency. If you are manufacturing a rare therapy with lower annual demand, batch may remain optimal. If you are scaling to hundreds or thousands of patients annually, continuous deserves a serious pilot.