Stephen Ward

Stephen has held the position of Chief Manufacturing Officer of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult since 2018, leading the strategic manufacturing, supply chain, skills and industrial growth programmes.

From January 2013, Stephen was Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult’s founding Chief Operating Officer, establishing the company’s world class process development and analytical capabilities at the London site.

As Chief Manufacturing Officer, Stephen has led on the design, build and GMP licensing of the innovative £75m CGT Catapult facility in Stevenage, establishing a unique operating model and making the facility central to the development of the largest cell and gene therapy cluster outside the US. He is also leading on the set-up of the new CGT Catapult site in Braintree, which has received £127m from Government to support the national effort to manufacture millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine, plus the development of large scale manufacturing of cell and gene therapies. 

Stephen also works closely with industry stakeholders to develop and deliver impactful and first-of-their-kind national skill programmes, such as the Advanced Therapy Skills Training Network (ATSTN) and the Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community (ATAC).

He brings to the organisation almost two decades of specialised cell and gene therapy expertise from his career in biological medicine research, development and manufacturing. Stephen thrives on bringing cutting edge technologies to patients by developing commercially viable products and is passionate about expanding the UK’s cell and gene therapy manufacturing and development supply chain.

He is a current member of the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership leadership team, actively promoting and supporting biomanufacturing in Government as well as at a grass-roots level. He has two degrees, his first from the University of Birmingham and his second from the Medical School of Southampton University. Stephen is an Executive Director of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult