The UK life-sciences industry

The UK life-sciences industry, which includes pharmaceutical, medical biotech and medical technology companies, is estimated to contribute around £10 billion per year to our economy - so it is perhaps little wonder that government is keen to see the industry survive and thrive on our shores, despite testing economic conditions. Clinical research has a major role to play in making that happen, and in this area the UK is starting to show some real improvements.

With research and development spend standing at some £4 billion in 2009, the UK life-sciences industry is a major investor in R&D. This is good news for both the economy, and for NHS patients. Despite recent downsizing in some companies, the life-sciences sector remains a major source of employment providing highly-skilled jobs, and is a significant exporter. As for patients, the fact that companies carry out clinical trials for their drugs and devices here in the UK, means that people get early access to breakthrough treatments, and the products come to market more quickly: good news for physicians and patients who want to see the NHS retain its place as a world-class health service.

However, the delivery of clinical trials is a competitive business, and UK divisions of global pharma companies must often compete with their international colleagues to run a trial in this country, rather than in the low-cost economies of Eastern Europe or the Far East. Two factors are key to the decision: how quickly a company can get permission to run a trial in the NHS, and whether sufficient NHS patient volunteers want to take part within the planned study period. In the past there have been question-marks over the UK's ability to deliver both of these aspects, with companies criticizing what they perceive to be a bureaucratic system and a lack of infrastructure within the NHS to carry out research activity. However, that picture is changing.

One reason for this is that successive governments have shown serious commitment to supporting clinical research in the NHS. Not only has clinical research featured heavily in health policy, it is also enshrined in the NHS Constitution, giving all patients a right to participate in suitable clinical trials. The commitment has also taken the form of real investment - such as the £300m the Department of Health has provided to fund the NIHR Clinical Research Network - an organisation to streamline the clinical study set-up process, and provide the people and practical support that NHS Trusts need to carry out clinical trials. Largely as a result of this investment in infrastructure, 97 per cent of NHS Trusts now take part in clinical research, and research nurses and other study-specific staff are spread across NHS Trusts in England. A specialist team has also been put in place to work with life-sciences companies and deal with their specific needs.

Tim Cave is the UK Medical Director of pharma multi-national Novartis, and has tracked these changes carefully. He explains, "Compared to five years ago, the situation is much improved, and we have more confidence in the viability of the UK as a trial location. The infrastructure for research in the NHS is now much stronger, and Novartis has recently had two studies where the UK recruited the first global patient, which is a significant achievement. It's a work in progress, but things are heading in the right direction."

The figures would seem to support this growing sense of confidence. In the 2010/11 year, the NIHR Clinical Research Network supported companies to deliver 324 commercial studies in the NHS, an increase of 36 per cent compared to the previous year. In the same period, more than 15,000 NHS patients took part in life-sciences industry studies supported by the Network - a dramatic increase on the situation in 2006/07, when less than 600 patients had the opportunity to participate in commercial trials.

Medical technology companies are amongst those that have benefitted from the upturn, with twice as many med-tech studies being delivered in 2010/11 as in the previous three years taken together. Lucy Pollock is the Marketing Manager for clinical trials at Medtronic, a global medical technology company that employs around 400 people in the UK. Says Pollock, "I believe there is a positive cycle of research, as the funding we feed into the NHS to fund commercial trials is channelled back into strengthening research capacity. That in turn improves the ability of the NHS to deliver clinical trials. At the end of the day, it means more patients can benefit from new products."

Adrienne Clarke, Oncology Clinical Team Manager at GlaxoSmithKline UK, agrees. "NHS Trust R&D staff are now recognising the significance of commercial research within the NHS," she says. "It's becoming a real collaborative effort."

It's an effort that seems set to continue, as political support for industry-sponsored clinical research is, if anything, increasing. The Chancellor's Plan for Growth, issued soon after the 2011 budget, confirmed that the life-sciences sector is seen as a vital part of the UK's economic recovery, and that clinical research, which underpins that sector's strength, is of strategic importance. This message was reinforced in October 2011 when the government announced investment in a series of "translational" or early-stage research partnerships - collaborations between university clinical researchers and life-science companies to help hot-house the development of new therapy ideas into viable treatments for major health conditions.

Given the economic climate, life-sciences companies are, perhaps unsurprisingly, cautious about being too optimistic. But according to Mark Samuels, chief executive of NOCRI (a government-funded body whose responsibilities include promoting the UK as a clinical research destination) there are genuine reasons to be cheerful. Says Samuels, "We have just one per cent of the world's population, yet we attract three per cent of the global funding for research, and we're responsible for more than 14% of the world's most highly-cited research papers, so in many ways the UK punches above its weight when it comes to clinical research. It's right that we want to improve, but that shouldn't prevent us from feeling positive about what we have in place here, and what research can do to support the health and wealth of the nation."