The value of commercial clinical trials

One of the main messages outlined in the ‘Lord O’Shaughnessy review on commercial clinical trials’ was the economic and financial value to the UK. The review’s own research showed that the decline in trial activity from 2017-2022 had cost the NHS nearly £1 billion in foregone income and value over 5 years.

Inevitably, given the timeframe of the review, the analysis was based on existing data, some of which was several years old. The ABPI and Frontier Economics have published their report, ‘The value of industry clinical trials to the UK’ which highlights the value of commercial trials is even greater than anticipated.

In 2022:

• Industry clinical trials contributed £7.4 billion gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy while creating 65,000 jobs
• The NHS benefited from £1.2 billion in direct revenue from these clinical trials with 13,000 of the total jobs based in the NHS
• Faster access to new treatments as a result of clinical trials of any kind helped to avoid three million sick days, worth £0.9 billion to the UK economy

ABPI & Frontier Economics estimate that if the UK returned commercial trial activity to just 2017 levels, an extra £3 billion and 26,000 more jobs would be contributed to the economy, including an additional £486 million of revenue to the NHS and 5,000 of those additional jobs. Hypothetically, if the UK achieves the 100,000 per year recruitment target proposed in the Lord O’Shaughnessy review, of which the previous Government accepted, the figures highlighted above would almost double.

The ABPI recommends that the government streamline clinical trial processes, improve regulatory frameworks, and invest in digital infrastructure to attract more trials to the UK. The ABPI emphasises that bolstering clinical trial capacity could significantly enhance the UK’s competitiveness in life sciences, with positive impacts on innovation, healthcare outcomes, and economic growth. The call for action includes a push for stronger collaboration between industry and government to create a more favourable environment for clinical trials, ensuring the UK remains a global hub for medical research and development.

The Labour Government has a strong and welcome manifesto commitment to “maximise our potential to lead the world in clinical trials”. The question, as ever with policy, is how do we pay for this? What the ABPI & Frontier Economics research shows, is that the answer is mostly through the private sector. At a time when money is tight and the new Government has a 3% R&D target to hit, maximising commercial trial activity and investment is the best route to success.

The report can be found at: https://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/the-value-of-industry-clinical-trials-to-the-uk/