UK says it has hit target on commercial trial set-up times
The UK has made progress in its efforts to slash set-up times for clinical trials, one of the factors blamed for a decline in industry-backed studies over the last few years.
New figures from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) show an average set-up time of 122 days in the six months to March, down from 169 days in the same period of the previous year.
The finding suggests the government has met its target of getting UK clinical trials up and running within an average of 150 days by March 2026, from an earlier level of around 250 days, a feat which the NIHR has attributed to cutting "red tape and unnecessary paperwork."
Measures include standardising and mandating commercial contracting processes across the NHS, and the launch of the NIHR Life Sciences Industry Hub, which acts as a single front door for companies running trials in England.
The 150-day metric is intended to make the UK a faster, more predictable and easier place for life sciences companies to run high-quality clinical trials. However, long set-up times are just one factor that has contributed to the UK slipping behind some other countries as a hub for clinical research, and others – like low patient recruitment rates and rising costs – remain a drag on the sector, according to the pharma industry.
In addition, while regulatory approvals may be coming in more quickly, there are still time lags in opening studies for recruitment.
The milestone has been welcomed by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), whose chief executive – Richard Torbett – said: "The improvement demonstrates what can be achieved through a concerted approach by the clinical research ecosystem."
He added, however, that for the UK to fulfil its potential in life sciences, "it is crucial to maintain momentum in driving down trial set-up times [and] we need to see a substantial increase in the numbers of patients recruited into industry trials."
In 2023, the O'Shaughnessy report painted a bleak picture of the UK clinical trials sector, with industry data pointing to a 41% decline in new trial starts between 2017 and 2021.
Last year, however, the report's author – former health minister Lord James O'Shaughnessy – said the country had turned a corner, mainly as a result of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) implementing reforms to speed up trial approval times.
According to the government, more than £137 million has been spent on research infrastructure and reforms to bring down set-up times. That includes £45 million in research capability funding supporting eligible NHS organisations to build trial set-up capacity, and more than £92.5 million for the launch of 35 commercial research delivery centres across the UK.
"The UK has always had world-class science and outstanding NHS clinicians," said Dr Zubir Ahmed, Health Innovation and Safety Minister.
The new figures "show we are now matching that excellence with a system that slashes red tape to get trials up and running at the speed patients deserve," he added. "We are not stopping here - 150 days is a milestone, not a finish line, and we remain committed to reducing this further."
The new announcement by the NIHR also notes that the UK is securing more global and European first patient enrolments than ever before, noting that, since April 2025, the country has reported 29 global firsts and 54 European firsts.
Photo by Behnam Norouzi on Unsplash
