Unlocking NHS data to increase recruitment into clinical trials will give the UK a competitive edge, says ABPI

The UK has an opportunity to enhance its global competitiveness in the delivery of industry clinical trials by harnessing NHS health data to more efficiently recruit patients, according to a new report from the ABPI.

Industry clinical trials bring significant benefits to patients, the NHS and the UK economy. Following a period of decline, the number of industry clinical trials in the UK is rising again. Despite this good news, participation in these trials is falling, and is now at its lowest level since 2017/18, representing only 3.4 per cent of individuals taking part in all UK trials.

The ABPI’s new report, ‘Globally competitive UK-wide data-enabled clinical trials: the time is now,’ argues that the solution to rapidly recruiting more patients who are suitable for industry clinical trials is better use of NHS health data. 

A key driver of declining recruitment into industry trials is inefficient methods of identifying eligible patients. Current processes are costly and resource-intensive for an overstretched NHS, and they waste patients’ time when they are turned away because they don’t meet the trial criteria to take part.

NHS records contain comprehensive medical information on the UK’s 69 million population. This globally unique asset could dramatically improve how patients are recruited into industry clinical trials in the UK, resulting in faster, more efficient and more inclusive processes.

Anonymised NHS records are already being successfully used in pockets of the UK to support trial recruitment. The recent government announcement to establish a Health Data Research Service (HDRS) provides a mechanism to coordinate and streamline locating the most suitable patients for an industry clinical trial across the UK.

The ABPI proposal involves conducting centralised searches of anonymised NHS records within the HDRS and providing this information to NHS trial sites, which have the authority to identify patients and review their eligibility for a specific trial. This evidence-based approach matches trial eligibility criteria to information within a patient’s medical record. Trial sites can then invite all suitable patients to recruitment screening, increasing the number of patients who can take part in industry trials of innovative medicines. The model protects patients' privacy and saves NHS staff time, as they no longer need to find patients from scratch using incomplete local information.

In addition to inviting more eligible patients to participate in a trial, invitations would be targeted only to those who meet the eligibility criteria based on their medical history, meaning fewer patients would be turned away at the recruitment screening stage. This would speed up trial delivery, as suitable patients could be identified during the setup phase and immediately invited for recruitment screening once a site is given the green light to start.

The new ABPI report sets out industry’s view of how adopting data-enabled methods would improve the predictability and accuracy of carrying out trials in the UK, by accelerating recruitment timelines and ensuring that the right patients are matched to the right studies. The result would complement the government's efforts to speed up trial set-up times in the UK and, collectively, strengthen the UK’s offer to global investors. 

Dr Janet Valentine, ABPI Executive Director of Innovation and Research Policy, said: "Because of the benefits industry trials bring to patients and the economy, global competition to attract commercial trials is fierce. It is therefore vital that the UK acts now to secure industry investment and builds on the public’s growing enthusiasm to take part in research.

“NHS health data offers the UK a potential leading edge on our competitors by transforming how we find and recruit patients into trials, reducing delays, costs and avoiding wasted effort. Importantly, the approach we are recommending improves efficiencies in the NHS whilst maintaining patient confidentiality.

“Our model, which has been developed in consultation with industry, NHS leaders and service providers, aligns with the government’s priorities for research and use of health data. If we get this right, we will restore the UK’s reputation for predictable and rapid recruitment into trials, making the UK a far more attractive place for global industry research investment."

Global competition for running trials has intensified. In recent years, the UK’s position as a leading destination for industry trials has shifted, with other countries offering targeted incentives to attract trial sponsors, while the UK continues to face challenges in site set-up and participant recruitment.

Restoring activity to 2017 levels could add £3 billion to the UK economy, £485 million to NHS revenues, and 26,000 jobs, showing the scale of the current gap and the economic opportunity.

The ABPI makes a set of recommendations to create a UK-wide data-enabled clinical trials capability to meet industry needs, and calls for the establishment of a multi-stakeholder UK-wide service design group to define how to deliver data-enabled industry trials at scale.