Focusing on Translation of International Frontier Research Achievements and Cooperation in the Cell and Gene Therapy Industry

On the afternoon of October 13, 2026, Dr. Alessia Errico, Associate Director of Search and uation at Cancer Research Horizons (CRH), the research innovation and translation institution under the UK cancer research charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK), visited the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cell Valley together with Dr. Joseph Ho from the HKU TEA Qianhai. Shi Yuanyuan, Founder, Chairman, and General Manager of the Cell Valley Group; Wang Jianxun, Chief Scientist; and Fu Yuchen, Director of the International Medical Service Center, participated in the exchange.

Cancer Research UK is one of the world's leading independent cancer research funding organizations, having long promoted basic cancer research, clinical research, and the development of innovative therapeutic technologies. According to its 2025/26 annual report, CRUK invested approximately £416 million in cancer research that year, supporting over 6,000 research and clinical professionals in the UK and internationally, with research covering more than 200 types of cancer, giving it broad influence in the international oncology research and innovation ecosystem.

As CRUK's research innovation and commercialization platform, Cancer Research Horizons is dedicated to bridging the key links of "research discovery – drug development – intellectual property protection – industrial cooperation – clinical translation." According to cumulative results disclosed on its official website, CRH has helped bring 14 anti-cancer drugs to market, supported over 95 innovative enterprises, holds more than 150 active technology licensing agreements, and has reinvested over £700 million in patent licensing and intellectual property-related revenue back into cancer research; its supported startups have raised over £3.5 billion in cumulative funding. This mature technology transfer and industrial incubation system makes it an important innovation platform connecting the UK's frontier cancer research with the global biopharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Alessia Errico, who visited this time, possesses both a deep scientific research background and international experience in research achievement translation. She holds a Master's degree in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Human Genetics, having conducted approximately 14 years of research in genetic diseases and tumor biology, and previously served as an editor for the internationally renowned academic journal Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. Previously, she was also responsible for research institution programs and research acceleration funding program management at CRUK, and obtained an MBA in Healthcare Management from Warwick Business School in the UK. She currently serves as Associate Director of Search and uation and Entrepreneurial Programmes Lead at CRH, leading her team to identify innovative achievements with clinical potential within the CRUK-funded research system in the UK and globally, promoting intellectual property protection, industrial cooperation, and spin-off enterprise incubation.

During the exchange, the two parties discussed frontier technologies in cell and gene therapy, gene editing, tumor immunotherapy, clinical translation of innovative achievements, and industrialization cooperation. They also exchanged views on the complementarity between the UK's scientific research and innovation resources and China's cell therapy technology development and manufacturing capabilities. The two parties reached preliminary consensus on further conducting specialized technical exchanges, and plan to continue matching around specific projects with translation potential to explore China-UK biopharmaceutical innovation cooperation opportunities.