The next era of cell therapy

“...the next era of cell therapy will be defined less by isolated breakthroughs and more by integration.” Advanced cell therapy has entered a period of explosive growth. The past decade proved that engineered immune cells can cure diseases once considered untreatable. The next decade will determine whether those breakthroughs can overcome current limitations and mature into foundational pillars of medicine. We are now at a moment when biological possibility is no longer the primary constraint. Instead, the field must solve the intertwined challenges of manufacturing, delivery, safety, systems integration, and global scalability. Across the contributions in this edition, a unifying theme emerges: advanced cell therapy is evolving from a collection of extraordinary scientific achievements into an industrial, regulatory, and clinical ecosystem that must function as a coordinated whole.