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

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.

Richard Torbett, ABPI Chief Executive, said: 

“The life science industry has the potential to deliver so much more for the UK - but to do this we need to fix the NHS, improve patient access to medicines and invest more in our critical science and regulatory infrastructure.

“This world-first Investment Programme puts industry money behind the government's vision to make better health and science a driver of economic growth.”

The Investment Programme supports the government's missions to kickstart economic growth and improving the UK's clinical trials will also help attract further global investment.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

"We are determined that the most effective new treatments are made available to NHS patients by ensuring the UK is the best place to discover and deploy new medicines, from early research through clinical trials to manufacture. 

“Investing in cutting-edge medicines research both boosts our economic growth potential and the prospect of new treatments and technologies for modern patient care. Support for clinical trials is integral to both.” 

Professor Lucy Chappell, DHSC Chief Scientific Adviser & CEO of National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), said: 

“I am delighted that the Chief Scientific Advisers for Health across the UK are working closely together to bring potential new treatments from companies in the life sciences sector to patients.

“The NIHR Commercial Research Delivery Centres in England will be a vital part of the UK research delivery infrastructure to drive improvements in patient treatment and enable the NHS to deliver clinical research most effectively."

Neil Gray, the Scottish Government's Health Secretary, said:

“It's more crucial than ever that patients in Scotland can safely access the most clinically and cost-effective medicines, as quickly as possible, and the VPAG Investment Programme will support our NHS to rapidly deliver truly innovative medicines and therapeutics to the people of Scotland.  

“There are also clear economic benefits with the life sciences industry, which is one of the growth sectors in the Scottish economy. I welcome the benefits that this type of public-private collaboration, through the VPAG Investment Programme, will bring in supporting growth of the life sciences industry in Scotland.”

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.”

Mike Nesbitt, Northern Ireland's Health Minister, said: 

“I warmly welcome the launch of the VPAG investment programme as a world-first partnership between government and the pharmaceutical industry that will support life sciences across the UK. 

“The programme will help to tackle health inequalities in Northern Ireland by helping to improve equitable access to clinical trials and supporting access to new medicines that are both clinically and cost effective in improving patient outcomes” 

Nicola Perrin, Association of Medical Research Charities Chief Executive, said: 

“Clinical trials save and improve lives. They enable early access to innovative therapies, and provide a lifeline to patients, particularly where no other treatment options are available.

“Given the significant challenges to embed research in the NHS, this new funding to build additional clinical trial capacity is welcome. The investment has the potential to make the NHS a more attractive place to undertake clinical research and trials, for the benefit of patients and the UK.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

• The Department of Health and Social Care and the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), in collaboration with the Devolved Administrations, National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Innovate UK, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the ABPI and companies who are members of the VPAG scheme, have been working for months to prepare for the launch.
• These initiatives closely align with the Government's Life Sciences Plan, Net Zero targets, and the O'Shaughnessy Review of commercial clinical trials.