Strengthening Patient Partnership in ATMP Research at EuroGCT Sharing Best Practice 2025

CREATIC’s participation reflected one of the centre’s core priorities: ensuring that the development of advanced therapy medicinal products is guided not only by scientific and clinical excellence, but also by the real needs and perspectives of patients. We were pleased to contribute to the session From Informed to Involved: Empowering Patient Partnership in ATMP Research, represented by Regina Demlová, Adriana Papież and Lenka Součková. The session focused on how to build meaningful patient involvement throughout the entire ATMP development and translation pathway.

The discussion addressed several key questions that are increasingly important for the future of advanced therapies. These included how to make access to ATMPs more direct, equitable and timely, how to better understand both the role and the limitations of cross border clinical trials, and how decentralised manufacturing models closer to patients could help reduce barriers to treatment. At the same time, participants reflected on the regulatory and practical challenges that such models still pose. These themes closely align with wider European efforts to strengthen access to gene and cell therapies while improving their implementation in healthcare systems.

As part of the workshop, CREATIC presented its CAATs as one example of how academic centres can co design ATMP development pathways together with patients and for patients. An important part of this perspective is the recognition that meaningful patient involvement requires not only willingness to listen, but also well informed partners who can engage confidently and effectively in research. In this context, we also highlighted the role of EUPATI in supporting patient education and empowerment in the field of advanced therapies.

The wider workshop programme offered a rich exchange of perspectives on how gene and cell therapy is communicated and understood across Europe. According to ECRIN’s summary, the discussions covered the German national strategy, the work underway at MUNI | CREATIC, AI applications in medicine, patient and public involvement, and the possibilities opened by collaborations between science and the arts. On the second day, participants also viewed the short film Gene Horizons, developed within the project as a training and engagement resource.

For CREATIC, the workshop was a valuable opportunity to exchange experience, contribute to an important European conversation and strengthen new connections within the EuroGCT community. It confirmed once again that the future of ATMP research depends not only on technological progress, but also on inclusive dialogue, shared learning and partnerships that keep patients meaningfully involved from the earliest stages of development through to clinical impact.