- Government hits ambitious target to speed up clinical trials with delivery times slashed by 35%
- UK life sciences sector boosted by faster, more competitive clinical trials which close the gap between research and treatment
- Patients benefit from quicker access to treatments for cancer, heart disease and other serious conditions
NHS patients will receive potentially lifesaving treatments faster, as new data released today (Wednesday 21 October) shows the government has hit its ambitious clinical trials target.
Trials for conditions ranging from cancer to heart disease were set up quicker, meaning patients could receive treatments sooner – easing pressure on the NHS and marking a boost for the UK’s life sciences sector.
The BEATRIX study, which offers pregnant women a government-backed vaccine against group B streptococcus (GBS) to help prevent infant deaths and stillbirths, is one example of research becoming reality in less than 150 days.
The average set-up time for commercial trials in the UK dropped to 100 days in the three months to March this year, down from 153 in the same period last year. All of the 24 commercial trials during those months were set up within 150 days, exceeding the 95% of commercial trials set up within 150-days goal set out in the Life Sciences Sector Plan last year.
It comes after the Prime Minister set out four steps to give people living with brain cancer a faster route from research to treatment last week, following his meeting with Archie Goodburn and the Health and Social Care Secretary.
The progress is yet another milestone in the UK’s life sciences growth, with more than £3 billion in new public-private investment attracted through the first year of the Plan.
Health Innovation Minister James Frith said:
For patients and their families, a clinical trial can offer hope of a treatment that once seemed unimaginable.
That’s why meeting this target is so important. It means more patients will get the cutting-edge care they need sooner.
This is part of our mission to get new treatments to patients faster and make the UK a global leader in medical research.
The data today show that 100% of studies receiving combined MHRA and REC approval in September 2026 did so within 60 days.
Trials included the CHILL study, where the first participant was screened just 113 days after the study entered set-up. Meanwhile, Moderna’s Nova 301 study recruited 2,500 volunteers in just nine weeks.
Faster set up of clinical trials will help more patients to access trial relevant to them, which is why today’s data also marks a crucial milestone for cancer patients.
The Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care last week set out in their meeting with Archie Goodburn their commitment to closing the translation gap between the lab and treatments that benefit patients in the clinic for rare cancers.
A new cancer trials accelerator will make the NHS the first-choice partner for cancer clinical trials, building on the success of the Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad and Vaccine Innovation Pathway.
Professor Lucy Chappell, NIHR Chief Executive Officer and DHSC Chief Scientific Adviser, said:
Clinical trials change lives. Faster study set-up means patients can gain access to promising new treatments sooner, giving more people the opportunity to benefit from the latest advances in areas such as cancer, vaccines and rare diseases.
Through our Industry Hub, a one-stop shop for sponsors looking to run research in the UK, and our UK-wide network of Commercial Research Delivery Centres, NIHR is making it much easier to bring world-leading trials to the UK.
By continuing to push for the UK to remain one of the best places in the world to clinical research, we’re driving life-changing innovation for patients and the public. We’re also attracting investment, creating skilled jobs and delivering growth that benefits communities across the country.
Through the NIHR Industry Hub, Commercial Research Delivery Centres and wider research infrastructure, sponsors have a clearer route into the system and access to the expertise, sites and delivery capability needed to run studies across the NHS.
The reforms are designed to make the UK a faster, more efficient and more predictable place to run commercial clinical research. Faster set-up is one part of that story: the wider goal is stronger recruitment, reliable whole-study delivery and greater confidence among global sponsors choosing where to place research.
Steve Bates OBE, Executive Chair of the Office for Life Sciences (OLS) said:
This Government has set a clear ambition for Britain to become the world’s leading innovation nation, underpinned by an innovation-led, research-driven economy. Commercial clinical trials are central to that ambition, bringing investment and growth to communities across the country while also giving patients earlier access to potentially life-changing treatments.
Today’s announcement shows the significant progress made by the NIHR, the NHS and partners across the research system to reduce trial set-up times and deliver upon the commitments in the Life Sciences Sector Plan.
We must now build on this progress. Global competition for life sciences investment and clinical trials is intense, and sustained delivery will be essential if the UK is to increase the number of patients participating in commercial trials and ensure that people can benefit from research regardless of where they live.
Lawrence Tallon, Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said:
A faster, more predictable clinical trials system is essential to helping patients access innovative treatments sooner and making the UK a more attractive destination for global life sciences investment.
Our new Strategy to 2030 sets out our ambition to deliver health and prosperity through scientific excellence. By working in partnership across the UK research ecosystem and internationally, we want to help create a clinical research environment that is faster, more agile and globally competitive – delivering real benefits for patients, researchers and the life sciences sector.
More trials in the UK also create wider benefits for communities through jobs, investment and stronger local economies.
The UK government is also driving a wider transformation of the clinical trials landscape, spanning regulation, costing and contracting, study set-up, delivery capacity and recruitment.
This includes investment through the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicine Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) Investment Programme to strengthen research delivery capacity and capability, alongside a clearer national route for industry through the NIHR Industry Hub and Commercial Research Delivery Centres.
Better research delivery strengthens the UK’s offer to sponsors, supports investment, skills and research capability, and creates more opportunities for patients to take part in transformative studies.
It comes as part of the Government’s push to make the UK a life sciences superpower, including with the new Health Data Research Service (HDRS), a flagship commitment of the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan.
Backed by up to £600 million from Government and the Wellcome Trust, HDRS will bring NHS and research data from across the UK into a single, secure system for approved research. Scientists will be able to identify eligible patients and recruit participants more quickly.
| Britain has some of the world’s most powerful health data, but it is fragmented across different systems and organisations. Joining it up will help researchers understand how diseases develop, find suitable participants and translate discoveries into treatments. |
Notes to editors
Annex A – further comments
Richard Torbett, Chief Executive of the ABPI said:
These figures demonstrate welcome progress in accelerating trial setup, and we applaud the hard work that has gone into this across government, the NHS, regulators and the research community.
With international competition intensifying, it’s vital that gains in first-site setup are replicated across every subsequent site and, most importantly, translate into more patients taking part in trials. The ambition to double recruitment, and then double it again, is the right one. Achieving it will take a concerted effort to reverse consecutive years of declining recruitment, and we look forward to working with the government to deliver on these shared goals.
Philippa Brown, Head of Development Operations at GSK, said:
It’s encouraging to see the continued positive results in clinical trial set-up times, establishing a more predictable foundation for research.
To truly unlock the UK’s potential as a leader in clinical trials, we need sustained action to provide the resources and financial incentives for NHS sites to recruit more patients to clinical trials, while also harnessing the potential of health data and improving NHS access to innovation.
We stand ready to support this work, which will create the necessary infrastructure to enable sustainable life sciences growth and ultimately will deliver innovation to patients faster.
A Vertex Global Clinical Operations spokesperson said:
Our organisation has been regularly partnering with the Industry Hub since its launch early in 2026. The early signs are encouraging; we can see the potential in accelerating UK clinical research set up and delivery, offering predictability for sponsors to determine study activation times.
Access points for Sponsors are streamlined via our assigned Key Account Manager and Project Manager. We have started to see the impact: a recent study saw site activation times of 112 days vs planned 120, under the government target.
Jonathan Brotherton, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Chair of the Shelford Group said:
Faster trial set-up is good for patients, for the NHS and for the life sciences industry.
We are proud of the contribution the ten Shelford Group trusts are making, both in establishing clinical trials within the 150-day target and delivering more than a third of the UK’s Global and European research firsts.
Shelford Group trusts have made progress by working together to strengthen and harmonise our study set-up approaches – adopting shared tools that get trials set up more quickly.
We know there is more to do to improve the delivery of complex clinical trials and ensure that patients can benefit from research opportunities as quickly as possible and we’re committed to this.
Professor Frankie Swords, National Medical Director, said:
A strong and thriving clinical research environment is good for everyone – patients of today, patients of tomorrow and of course our staff too.
Making studies quicker and easier to set up gives research teams a better platform to recruit and deliver trials and creates more opportunities for people to take part in innovative research.
Our ambition is to make research more routinely available right across the NHS, including in neighbourhood services and primary care, so that more people can benefit closer to home.
