Sir Keir Starmer has committed to significantly reducing the time required to establish a clinical trial in the UK, from over 250 days to just 150.
This move is part of a broader effort to bolster the nation’s medical sciences sector.
Alongside this pledge, the Prime Minister announced a substantial investment of up to £600 million, contributed jointly by the Government and the Wellcome Trust, towards a new health data research service.
The announcement was made following adjustments to targets for some electric vehicles and in the wake of the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs on the UK car industry.
During a visit to Jaguar Land Rover’s facility in the West Midlands, Sir Keir praised the life sciences sector as a cornerstone of British industry and a critical element of the export economy.
The Prime Minister outlined plans to cut through the bureaucratic red tape currently hindering clinical trials, stating, “We’re going to rip up the red tape, cut the stifling bureaucracy that slows down clinical trials. Britain used to excel in this, but we’ve eased off recently.”
The Government intends to streamline the process by standardizing the contracts for setting up clinical trials, thus eliminating the repetitive negotiations for each new trial.
Furthermore, for the first time, trust-level data on clinical trials will be made publicly available to enhance transparency within the NHS.
Sir Keir elaborated on the intended benefits of these changes: “With the reduction in setup times for clinical trials to 150 days and the new investment of up to £600 million in a health data research service, in collaboration with Wellcome Trust, we aim to strengthen the genome cluster in Cambridge.
This initiative will ensure that patient data within the NHS is utilized for the public good, providing opportunities not just for economic growth, but crucially for saving lives through advanced medicine. Britain has a strong track record in this field, as demonstrated during the pandemic, and it is time to accelerate our efforts once more.”
The newly announced health data research service will be located at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridgeshire.
It will consolidate various medical research data into one secure location, simplifying access for researchers and potentially accelerating studies into diseases like cancer, dementia, and arthritis while maintaining the highest standards of patient confidentiality.
John-Arne Rottingen, CEO of Wellcome, highlighted the potential benefits: “By improving the integration of health data, this service will enable researchers to efficiently harness information across different NHS segments, simplifying data analysis and patient identification for clinical trials, thereby speeding up the advancement of medical knowledge and the development of new treatments.”
The initiative has received a warm reception from medical research charities, including Cancer Research UK, which described it as a “much-needed investment.”
Dr Ian Walker from the charity emphasized the importance of NHS data in enhancing disease understanding and developing effective treatments. He also stressed the need for patient consultation throughout the process.
Kieran Winterburn from the Alzheimer’s Society also welcomed the announcement, noting the difficulties dementia researchers currently face in accessing NHS data.
He said, “This new single access point to NHS data will remove significant barriers for researchers, enabling more effective studies that are crucial for tackling the UK’s biggest killer, dementia.”
