From the lab to… Consultancy — Will Lake

In our ‘From the lab to…’ series, we highlight the diverse scientific journeys of our team members and what led them to pursue careers at Catalyze. In this edition, Will Lake, Life Science & Health Consultant, shares how years of hands-on experience in cutting-edge cell therapy development laid the foundation for his transition to Catalyze.

From CAR-T innovation to TCR-T breakthroughs

Will began his scientific journey in the field of cell and tissue engineering, with a particular focus on the development and manufacturing of advanced cell therapies.

“I’ve worked on CAR-Ts and TCR-Ts since 2018, across every step of the cell therapy value chain.” Will begins.

His first industry experience was at CRISPR Therapeutics, where he worked for 3 years in a lab-based role, first in their process development group and later in MSAT and clinical manufacturing for the solid tumour-targeting CTX-130.

Will says, “I helped with everything from process development to IND writing, to person-in-plant support for clinical manufacturing, to process characterisation and validation. This gave me a wide range of skills and deep knowledge in the hurdles it takes to bring a therapy to market.”

He later supported the next-generation potency-enhanced CAR-T product, CTX-131, further expanding his technical expertise in tech transfer and bridging studies.

Will continued advancing his knowledge with a Master’s program in the Netherlands. There, he pursued academic research at UMC Amsterdam’s Themeli group, working on synthetic biology-enabled dual CAR-Ts for multiple myeloma, and later at Neogene Therapeutics, focusing on improving TCR-T metabolic capabilities.

Will highlights, “The sum of this experience gave me a deep understanding of drug development – from early stage research all the way to the clinic.”

Tackling solid tumour challenges in next-gen cell therapies

“The new generation of CAR-T and TCR-T therapies must be able to overcome issues like a hypoxic and immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment, T cell exhaustion, and penetration into the tumour site.” Will says.

“My time at CRISPR and here in the Netherlands at UMC Amsterdam and Neogene Therapeutics was focused on these challenges in order to deliver next-generation cell therapies and bring the curative responses seen in blood cancers into broader applicability.”

He adds, “This gave me invaluable experience in understanding what types of problems a field is facing and what is needed to solve them, which I have taken into my work at Catalyze.”

From fundamental science to real-world impact

Will begins, “After completing my masters I realised that my passion was much more in the application of science rather than in fundamental research.”

Though Will found his fundamental research experience to be invaluable in teaching him how to approach scientific problems, he felt frustrated at how far away the innovations were from reality, and experienced an often siloed working style in academia.

“I realised that the experiences that I enjoyed the most were ones where I could have a more tangible, direct impact on bringing a new innovation to life, and use my soft skills to build relationships and get projects to the finish line.”

Will continues, “With my previous experience in cell therapy development, I began to look for opportunities that would allow me to translate my drug development skills into more business-oriented contexts, specifically in the realm of fundraising and financing.”

Joining Catalyze: where science meets strategy

For Will, joining Catalyze represented a shift—not away from science, but toward a broader view of how innovations move from concept to clinic.

Will explains, “Catalyze felt like a natural next step – with the focus on life science Innovations, I thought I would be able to use my previous drug development background and acquire new skills and ways of thinking about products, markets, and commercialisation.”

Since joining the Life Science and Health Consultancy team in January 2025, Will has jumped into the world of non-dilutive fundraising, contributing to flagship projects like the EIC Accelerator.

“From the first steps In the Interview process, I felt energised by the type of work that Catalyze did, especially as I enjoy thinking about story-telling and how to best demonstrate value of a product.” Will says.

With his background in drug development, he brings a valuable perspective to evaluating feasibility and regulatory planning—key aspects of successful innovation strategy.

Will finishes, “I am also enjoying developing new skills regarding commercialisation pathways and how drug development companies can get to the next value inflection point.”