Cell therapy: Treatment with cells. A technology that relies on replacing diseased or dysfunctional cells with healthy, functioning ones.Whole blood transfusions, packed red cell transfusions, platelet transfusions, bone marrow transplants, and organ transplants are all forms of cell therapy.Cell therapy may be applicable to some types of cancer, neurological diseases such as Parkinson disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig disease), spinal cord injuries, and diabetes.A great range of cells can serve in cell therapy including blood and bone marrow cells, mature and immature solid tissue cells, adult stem cells and, most controversially, embryonic stem cells.Cell therapies offer the promise of treating and altering the course of diseases which cannot be addressed adequately by existing pharmaceuticals. Cell therapies are a diverse group across cell types and therapeutic indications and have been an active area of research for many years but are now strongly emerging through translation and towards successful commercial development and patient access. In this article, we present a description of a classification of cell therapies on the basis of their underlying technologies rather than the more commonly used classification by cell type because the regulatory path and manufacturing solutions are often similar within a technology area due to the nature of the methods used. We analyse the progress of new cell therapies towards clinical translation, examine how they are addressing the clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and reimbursement requirements, describe some of the remaining challenges and provide perspectives on how the field may progress for the future.Cell therapy represents the most recent phase of the biotechnology revolution in medicine. As with many remedies, cell therapies are based on ground-breaking scientific discoveries and technology advancements. Most cell-based therapies are currently experimental, with a few exceptions such as haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation which is already a well-established treatment for blood related disorders. The next generation of cell therapies now emerging are of diverse class. Cell therapies can be classified by the therapeutic indication they aim to address, e.g. neurological, cardiovascular, ophthalmological; by whether they comprise cells taken from and administered to the same individual (autologous) or derived from a donor (allogeneic); or most commonly by the cell types, often using the EU regulatory classification. The EU regulatory classification of cell-based therapies discriminates between minimally manipulated cells for homologous use (transplants or transfusions) and those regulated as medicines which are required to demonstrate quality, safety and efficacy standards to obtain a marketing authorization before becoming commercially available (referred to as Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products; ATMPs) which are further subdivided into somatic cell, gene therapy and tissue engineered products. Another way of considering the diversity of cell therapies is classification by their underlying technology. Broadly, the ATMP subdivisions are mirrored in the cell-therapy technology classification described in this paper. The technology, i.e. methodology, being used, rather than the specific cell type is often the feature that needs to be addressed to solve manufacturing, regulatory and clinical issues in a more general way. Thus, a technology classification can emphasize the commonality in translation challenges between otherwise diverse types of cell-based therapy.