Clinical trials landscape in the UK
Numbers of patients enrolled onto commercially-led studies supported by the NIHR dropped by 44% between 2017 to 2018 and 2021 to 2022, from around 50,000 a year to around 28,000.
The number of trials initiated dropped from 4th to 10th best in the world in the same timeframe. Other countries like Poland, have been able to recruit high numbers of patients for each commercial trial, with an average of 61 participants in Phase 2 and 3 trials compared to an average of 21 per trial in the UK between 2018 and 2020
In response, UK Government commissioned Lord James O’Shaughnessy Report published on 26 May 2023 sets out 27 recommendations intended to deliver major, sustained growth in commercial trial activity.
The report sets a goal of doubling patients enrolled in commercial studies by 2025 and doubling the number again by 2027. Medica research addresses one of the key issues to meeting this target
The report also states that primary care is a negligible provider of clinical trial activity, despite the opportunities it provides for delivering population-scale trials, and there is too much reliance on hospital settings for the delivery of trials.
Delivering quality research in primary care