Last month, Curia’s Health, Care and Life Sciences Research Group ran the fourth inquiry of its Life Sciences Industrial Strategy for a New Government Programme. The fourth inquiry session focussed on ‘Clinical Uptake, Adoption and Improved Population Outcomes.’ The session was chaired by Richard Stubbs, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire and Humber Health Innovation Network and Dr Keith Ridge, former Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, with keynote speakers including:
- Lord James O’Shaughnessy, Author, UK Review of Commercial Clinical Trials
- Lord Ara Darzi, Chair of the Accelerated Access Collaborative Board
- Andrew Davies, Digital Health Lead at ABHI
- Seamus Harrison, Vice President of Genomics PLC
- Kristin-Anne Rutter, Executive Director at Cambridge University Health Partners
- Jim McArdle, Head of Business Development Strategy at IQVIA
- Helen Dent, BIVDA Chief Executive
Bringing clinical activity to patients and populations
Starting the session, Lord O’Shaughnessy soon spoke of the requirement (and difficulty) to keep clinical trials on the political agenda as it is hard to quantify the benefits of them. In order to do so, patients would need to be demanding research and have access to trials (with political agendas often being defined by the interests of the people). Currently there is no public clinical trials database for patients to check for trials they would like to participate in, which acts as a detriment to the UK’s clinical trials sector.
Working with patients more was a point also raised by Seamus Harrison, who highlighted that projects he had been involved in, found that patients who had their risk scores shown to them were more likely to engage in preventative methods, and by Helen Dent, who further accented the need for patient access to innovations and the requirement for the NHS to provide evidence of each innovation’s benefits, to motivate change.
The Role of the Centre in Clinical Uptake for the Population
Andrew Davies began their introduction by stating that centrally-driven reviews have not fundamentally changed anything – they don’t address practical issues like pathway changes and upskilling. He said:
“There’s numerous examples now of how once that central funding is withdrawn, you reach a cliff edge and you don’t go any further because it’s not getting baked into business as usual”
Andrew Davies
In his opinion, the role of the centre is creating the right environment for local organisations to implement innovations, supporting them with central expertise. Defining the role of the centre also played a part in Kristin-Anne Rutter’s comments, as she mentioned that the role of the centre should be to foresee trends and be involved in the development of measures to adapt to those, for the good of the population. Kristin-Anne noted a shift towards personalised medicine and big shift in types of innovations, giving recommendations (to be released in Curia’s interim report) to adapt to these shifts.
Balancing Central Pushes with Local Pushbacks on clinical uptake
In exploring the balance between central pushes for innovation, and, crucially, local adoption of this innovation, McArdle explained that local groups don’t have the capacity to engage with innovation (needing to care for their populations), and thus push back against central institutions. Before any top-down approach can be successful there needs to be more system readiness with a greater focus on prevention over treatment. Lord Darzi added that change happens locally and that the national level needs to only set standards. However, he agreed that local levels are resistant to central impositions.
Health, Care and Life Sciences Research Group
Curia’s Life Sciences Industrial Strategy for a New Government interim report will be launched after Easter, where subscribers to Curia’s Health, Care and Life Sciences Research Group will be invited to attend. You can sign up to the Curia Newsletter here to be kept informed about our events and reports. If you are interested in subscribing, please email team@curiauk.com to find out more.
We are delighted to be working with sponsors IQVIA and Genomics Plc to deliver the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy for a New Government Programme