A national agency for clinical research

17 November 2003

The Wellcome Trust has backed a recommendation to government to establish a National Clinical Trials Agency to promote excellence in clinical research in the UK.

The recommendation was made in a report published in November 2003 by the Bioscience Innovation and Growth Team, a joint government and biotech industry collaboration. The report outlines a series of recommendations that form a strategic approach to make the UK a world leader in biosciences by 2015. Among these is a call for a National Clinical Trials Agency, to be sponsored by the Department of Health in collaboration with the UK Medical Research Council (MRC).

The Wellcome Trust - which recently invested more than £20 million to set up state-of-the-art Clinical Research Facilities in Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Manchester and Southampton - believes the MRC should play a major role in National Clinical Trials Agency due to its strong tradition of excellence in clinical trials.

The Trust also welcomes the opportunity to be involved in a related working group, led by Sir John Pattison, head of the R&D arm of the National Health Service, which aims to develop practical plans to maximize the benefit to patients of research conducted within the NHS.

While the work of the Wellcome Trust, the MRC and other funders has established solid foundations, there is still much to be done to revitalize clinical research in the UK. It is hoped that the establishment of a National Clinical Trials Agency will breathe new life into clinical science and ultimately lead to new treatments for many serious diseases.

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