UK aims to slash clinical trials set-up time from 9 months to 10 weeks
New system would avoid ‘unnecessary contracts’ and ‘duplication on technical assurances’
The UK government is seeking to cut the time it takes to set up clinical trials by more than two-thirds, as it aims to lure more companies to Britain and boost the life sciences sector.
A pilot programme reduced set-up times for an mRNA norovirus vaccine trial from almost nine months to just 70 days, according to figures seen by the Financial Times.
It currently takes an average of 250 days to launch a trial within the NHS, which ministers have said they want to reduce to “150 days or less” by March next year.
But the new process, if rolled out, could see that streamlined to just 10 weeks.
The Vaccine Innovation Pathway (VIP) trial was backed by public funding and is now being cited by ministers as a model for streamlining the process.
A new contracting system would allow researchers and pharmaceutical companies to avoid “unnecessary contracts” and “duplication on technical assurances,” allowing them to accelerate trial launches.
Officials said this new standardised commercial contracting process removed unnecessary negotiations and duplicative steps at sites.
Contract templates and agreements are looked at per study, and accepted by participating sites without any modification, rather than the current system that often requires new contracts for each stage or testing site.
This will “free up workforce capacity and drive efficiencies,” the officials said.
Ministers have targeted life sciences as one of the eight “growth” sectors in their industrial strategy, and hope the NHS can be a strong lure for pharmaceutical companies around the world to set up trials.
Health minister Karin Smyth said: “For too long, some of the country’s greatest scientists have been trapped in a tangled web of bureaucracy — tied up by endless contracts and pointless paperwork — with new treatments delayed and patients missing out.
“We’re transforming the UK into a hotbed for innovation — ensuring the most innovative companies can get their products on the market and to the NHS frontline as quickly as possible.”
Under the government’s ten-year plan for the health service announced earlier this year, millions of patients will be granted direct access to clinical trials under the expansion of the NHS app.
But the industry has previously criticised the UK for paying far less than many peer countries for products and warned that a recent rise in the UK’s medicine sales tax left the country uninvestable.
Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser to the department, said: “We’re taking a series of steps to strengthen the sector — streamlining the set-up and delivery of clinical trials, unlocking the power of our impressive life sciences sector and harnessing our world leading science for patients across the country.”
She added: “Research is a core part of care, driving better patient outcomes, supporting our workforce, and ensuring that our health and care system innovates today and is fit for the future.”