Cell and Gene Therapy by the numbers
Where the cell and gene therapy work is happening, from public trial, publication and grant records. Updated October 13, 2026.
1,332recruiting interventional trialsClinicalTrials.gov
9,768papers published in 2025OpenAlex
$610MNIH grants to outside institutions, fiscal year 2025 (1,046 projects)NIH RePORTER
64new NIH R01 grants in fiscal year 2025NIH RePORTER
Most published institutions
Papers in 2024–2025. KOLs cluster where the work is.
- University of PennsylvaniaUS514
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer CenterUS509
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterUS476
- Harvard UniversityUS458
- Stanford UniversityUS397
- Moffitt Cancer CenterUS378
- City of Hope National Medical CenterUS348
- Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteUS324
- Massachusetts General HospitalUS320
- Mayo ClinicUS314
Most NIH funding
Grants in fiscal year 2025. Funded labs are building and buying.
- University of Pennsylvania42 grants$35M
- Massachusetts General Hospital27 grants$19M
- Stanford University33 grants$18M
- University of California, San Francisco33 grants$16M
- University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester22 grants$16M
- Yale University12 grants$15M
- Duke University23 grants$14M
- University of Minnesota23 grants$13M
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia17 grants$11M
- Boston Children's Hospital18 grants$11M
Where trials are recruiting
Recruiting interventional trials with a site in each country.
China659
United States480
Spain56
United Kingdom52
Australia51
Canada47
Germany46
France41
Phase 1: 823 · Phase 2: 501 · Phase 3: 54 (a two-phase study counts in both). 35% led by industry.
Fastest-growing research topics
Keywords on papers, 2022 to 2025. New topics bring new voices.
- B7-H339 → 1644.2×
- immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome186 → 6293.4×
- immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment67 → 1952.9×
- ciltacabtagene autoleucel49 → 1422.9×
- CAR-NK cells93 → 2482.7×
- CRISPR/Cas948 → 1212.5×
Sources, as of October 13, 2026:
ClinicalTrials.gov (Recruiting interventional studies, interventions: gene therapy, cell therapy, CAR-T, AAV, lentiviral); OpenAlex (Papers whose main topic is in the OpenAlex topics "Virus-based gene therapy research" and "CAR-T cell therapy research"); NIH RePORTER (NIH extramural grants in fiscal year 2025 in NIH's "Gene Therapy" research category (RCDC); sub-projects, NIH in-house research and contracts excluded).
Where KOLs show up
Cell and gene therapy draws on hematology, oncology, rare disease and genetics, so the right experts depend on the modality (CAR-T, AAV gene therapy, gene editing) and the disease. Name both, then look in these places.
Congresses
The ASGCT annual meeting is the field's main scientific stage, with ESGCT in Europe and ISCT for cell therapy translation and manufacturing. CAR-T results in blood cancers are often presented at ASH and the Tandem Meetings. See which organizations are going in our guides to ESGCT 2026 and ASH 2026.
Treatment centers
Approved CAR-T therapies are given at certified treatment centers, many of them accredited by FACT, the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. Their program directors are often the investigators on the next trials.
Start from the numbers
The institutions publishing the most and winning the most NIH funding are where cell and gene therapy KOLs cluster, and the fastest-growing keywords show which topics are gaining new voices. For the method, read how to find key opinion leaders, or search any field with the KOL Finder.