Countries capable of approving and setting up cost-effective clinical trials efficiently and delivering on patient recruitment targets, whilst maintaining high patient safety standards, will succeed in attracting commercial investment in their clinical research environments.
By embracing new and innovative approaches to clinical research design, delivery, and regulation, including data and digital technologies, the UK has the opportunity to transform how clinical trials are conducted and to maximise benefits for the NHS, patients and the economy.
A key part of this transformation will be bringing the NHS into the 21st century, with state-of-the- art infrastructure and a research culture that is embedded in daily processes and across the workforce.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK must address the immediate challenges that lie ahead, ensuring that as it takes the stage on an international platform in 2021, the right interventions are implemented to deliver on its commitment of becoming a ‘science superpower’.