UK launches £400 million investment programme to boost clinical trials and supercharge life sciences

• World-first public-private collaboration launched to kickstart economic growth and build an NHS fit for the future.
• Up to £400 million of investment will support faster patient access to cutting-edge treatments, strengthen clinical trials and improve medicines manufacturing in the UK.
• 18 new clinical trials hubs will be created across UK to accelerate research

NHS patients will have earlier access to new treatments and the UK will become the home of cutting-edge health research as the UK Government launches a joint public-private investment programme worth up to £400 million. 

The Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicine Pricing, Access, and Growth (VPAG) Investment Programme opens today. It will channel significant investment into the UK’s health and life sciences sector over the next five years, boosting economic growth and the global competitiveness of the UK’s life sciences sector.

It is the first major public-private collaboration of this scale in the world and will strengthen the NHS through supporting innovative research, creating 18 new clinical trial hubs to fast-track the development of new medicines to patients. By streamlining processes, it will ensure that new treatments move swiftly from labs to wards, providing patients with faster access to cutting-edge treatments. 

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:

“This private investment is a significant vote of confidence in the UK and will fast-track the next generation of treatments to NHS patients.

“It will enhance the UK’s global competitiveness and transform the country into the epicentre of health research, supporting an NHS fit for the future.

By cutting waiting lists and fixing our NHS, we can make it an engine for growth, and build the healthy society needed for a healthy economy.” 

The funding will be channelled into key health and life sciences projects across the country to:

• Increase opportunities for patients to participate in commercial clinical trials: The programme will allocate 75% of its investment to expand the UK's capacity and capability for commercial clinical trials. Up to 18 new Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs) will be established across the four nations to enhance and build upon the UK’s commercial clinical trials infrastructure and support patient recruitment into trials. Researchers will also have increased access to the latest equipment and technology to enable innovative trials to be designed across hospital and primary, community and residential care settings, bringing research closer to communities across the UK.

• Create sustainable pharmaceutical manufacturing innovation: Around 20% of the funding will be directed towards sustainable manufacturing initiatives, promoting efficiency and reducing waste and emissions within the pharmaceutical sector. These efforts align with government and industry Net Zero goals, supporting the sector's environmental commitments while enhancing the UK’s global competitiveness. 

• Support innovative Health Technology Assessment (HTA) approaches: The final 5% of the investment will focus on modernising HTA processes – a way to assess the cost and clinical effectiveness of new treatments - facilitating improved access to innovative medicines. This includes support for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) HTA Innovation Laboratory and a new horizon scanning database - UK Pharmascan which provides information on new medicines coming to market- benefiting both patients and the wider health system. 

VPAG is a voluntary agreement between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), designed to improve patient outcomes, manage the NHS medicines bill, and support the life sciences industry. Launched as part of the scheme, additional investment from pharmaceutical companies will support implementation of the Investment Programme.

Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, said: 

This investment programme is an exciting opportunity to further enhance the UK life sciences sector. We are delighted to play our part in this to advance the cutting-edge of pharmaceutical and technological developments, which will ultimately deliver real benefits to healthcare and patient care.”

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