The federal government has appointed Lord James O’Shaughnessy, Senior Partner at consultancy firm Newmarket Strategy, Board Member of Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), and former Health Minister, to conduct an independent review into the UK business clinical trials landscape.
The review will offer recommendations on how business clinical trials might help the life sciences sector unlock UK growth and investment opportunities. This may also advise on tips on how to resolve key challenges in conducting business clinical trials within the UK.
George Freeman, Minister for State at the brand new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, said:
Industrial clinical trials are absolutely vital to each our UK life sciences sector and widening NHS patient access to revolutionary medicines all across the UK.
The UK has traditionally been a powerful global location for trials, as demonstrated most recently through the ground-breaking Covid Recovery trial which was arrange in record time and was the world’s largest randomized controlled trial for COVID-19.
Nevertheless, our life sciences sector has reported a 44% fall in recruitment of patients to business clinical trials between 2017 and 2021 – so it is important that we act to rebuild competitiveness.
That’s the reason I’m delighted that Lord O’Shaughnessy will lead this independent review to discover the important thing steps we want to take.”
Health Minister, Will Quince, said:
We’re harnessing the identical spirit of innovation that delivered the COVID-19 vaccine and dealing hand in hand with the NHS, industry and healthcare experts to get cutting-edge medicines to patients faster.
This review will help us to search out recent ways to conduct business clinical trials that can speed up diagnosis, enhance treatment and enable the NHS to deliver world-class care, in addition to cementing our position as a life sciences super power.
The UK continues to prepared the ground in ground-breaking research and I sit up for receiving Lord O’Shaughnessy’s recommendations.”
Lord O’Shaughnessy’s review will construct on the federal government’s 10-year vision for clinical trials, Saving and Improving Lives: The Way forward for UK Clinical Research Delivery, published in March 2021. The review will take account of the work of the Recovery Resilience and Growth (UK RRG) program, which brings together partners across the health system and industry to assist deliver this 10-year vision.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) have outlined a 44% drop within the variety of participants recruited to business clinical trials within the last 5 years, exacerbated by the consequences of the pandemic. The variety of industry clinical trials initiated within the UK per 12 months fell by 41% between 2017 and 2021.
Lord O’Shaughnessy will publish his advice this spring. This may include recommendations of priority actions to make progress in 2023, in addition to setting out longer-term ambitions for UK clinical trials.