The development of novel, affordable and efficacious therapeutics will be necessary to ensure the continued progression in the standard of global healthcare. With the potential to address previously unmet patient needs as well as tackling the social and economic effects of chronic and age-related conditions, cell therapies will lead the new generation of healthcare products set to improve health and wealth across the globe. However, if many of the small to medium enterprises (SMEs) engaged in much of the commercialization efforts are to successfully traverse the ‘Valley of Death’ as they progress through clinical trials, there are a number of challenges that must be overcome. No longer do the challenges remain biological but rather a series of engineering and manufacturing issues must also be considered and addressed
