The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has announced a major investment in the future of clinical trials, with £6.5 million awarded to establish a UK-wide Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) Network. Funded through a joint public-private partnership with the pharmaceutical industry, the initiative will be hosted by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and will formally commence on 1 September 2025. At its helm will be Birmingham Health Partners’ Managing Director, Professor Lorraine Harper, who has been appointed as the Network’s Clinical Lead.
The Network will coordinate the work of all 21 CRDCs across the UK, offering a unified structure designed to improve efficiency, capacity, and speed in the delivery of commercial clinical research. By aligning efforts and streamlining processes, it seeks to remove longstanding barriers to trial delivery and respond directly to the Government’s call earlier this year to turbocharge the nation’s medical research. As a centralised system, it will serve as the key interface between industry and the NHS research infrastructure, providing a single point of contact for sponsors and harmonising the processes needed for study feasibility, placement, and set-up.
Among its core aims are supporting workforce development, strengthening public involvement, and promoting inclusion within clinical trials. Importantly, the Network will also integrate the Primary Care CRDCs in England during the autumn of 2025, widening the scope of research opportunities into community and underserved settings. This is seen as a vital step to ensure that clinical trials reflect the diversity of the UK population and are accessible to patients beyond major teaching hospitals and large research centres.
Speaking about her new role, Professor Lorraine Harper, Professor of Nephrology at the University of Birmingham and Clinical Lead of the Network, said: “The vision of the Network is to ensure equitable access, diverse recruitment and a much more efficient model of trial delivery, improving NHS and patient access to trials. With Birmingham Health Partners already leading a regional programme to reduce bureaucracy in clinical trials, and BHP member Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals hosting the Central and North West Midlands CRDC, this is an exciting opportunity to align all our work and deliver a ‘gold standard’ for commercial clinical trials.”
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is already host to the £7 million Central and West North Midlands (C&NWM) CRDC. This centre works closely with regional partners including the Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, host of the Staffordshire and Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Health Research Partnership (SSHERPA), and the Black Country Provider Collaborative. The C&NWM region is home to 4.2 million people, many of whom live in some of the country’s most economically deprived communities. These communities face higher rates of serious illness and poorer health outcomes, and the CRDC has pledged to prioritise addressing these inequities by increasing opportunities for local residents to access cutting-edge research and participate in trials that could directly benefit their health.
Professor Melanie Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester, Honorary Consultant Diabetologist at UHL and Director of the CRDC Network, welcomed the announcement. She said: “We are really proud that University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has been awarded this funding to host this federated CRDC Network across the four nations of the UK. We are fully committed to working with our partners across the UK to deliver faster, more efficient set up and delivery of commercial research. We want to drive increased investment from industry and enable even more people to take part in studies that can lead to the future approval of new medicines and devices for the benefit of patients in the UK.”
The new Network comes at a pivotal time for life sciences in the UK. Global competition for research investment is intense, and efficiency in setting up and delivering trials has long been cited as a challenge in attracting pharmaceutical companies to choose the UK as a primary base for studies. By offering a cohesive, streamlined offer to industry, the CRDC Network aims to enhance the country’s global standing as a preferred destination for commercial research. Its success will be measured not only in the speed and efficiency of trial delivery, but also in the breadth of patient engagement and the inclusivity of its recruitment strategies.
Dr Maria Koufali, NIHR Life Sciences Industry Director, reinforced the strategic importance of the Network: “The UK CRDC Network is a critical part of our national effort to transform UK clinical research delivery. By streamlining trial set-up and expanding access into community and underserved settings, it will help make the UK one of the most attractive destinations globally for commercial research. This means faster access to innovative treatments for patients, greater investment in the NHS and a stronger life sciences sector that boosts the health and wealth of the nation.”
With its focus on equitable access, industry collaboration, and improved trial delivery, the CRDC Network is poised to play a central role in shaping the future of clinical research in the UK. By bringing together partners across the four nations, it will work not only to accelerate innovation but also to ensure that the benefits of research are shared widely among patients and communities who need them most.
Read the original article: https://www.birminghamhealthpartners.co.uk/birmingham-academic-appointed-clinical-lead-of-new-nihr-network/
