O’Shaughnessy review: Protas, Oxford and Good Clinical Trials Collaborative respond

Together, the three organisations are calling for “actions not words” in The Lancet.

Following Lord O’Shaughnessy’s new review into commercial clinical trials, Protas, Oxford Population Health and the Good Clinical Trials Collaborative have co-authored an article for The Lancet exploring how the UK can deliver on the recommendations outlined through the review.

Lord O’Shaughnessy identifies eight major deficiencies in clinical trials in the UK, with 27 recommendations, broadly summarised as a need to:

• Improve the speed and quality of initial trial authorisation by the MHRA
• Develop a coordinated pan-NHS clinical trial contracting mechanism
• Increase the quality of data collected about clinical trials performance
• Improve patient access to clinical trial
• Establish a set of clinical trial acceleration networks aligned with the NHS and UK life sciences priority

Protas, together with Oxford and the Good Clinical Trials Collaborative, is calling on UK government to break from business as usual, which has seen clinical trials become slow, sluggish, complex and expensive.

Instead, we must build on the successes of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the RECOVERY Trial, and seek faster, leaner, more cost effective solutions throughout the entire clinical trials ecosystem.

This can be done in a way that vastly improves the quality of results, which is central to the missions of our three organisations.

“It is imperative that the UK government, MHRA, and NHS organisations adopt O’Shaughnessy’s recommendations and in turn make full use of the wider expertise and experience in clinical trials to deliver the necessary transformations for efficient trials that are carefully designed and appropriately regulated,” the article states.

“A more agile, streamlined, and efficient approach to clinical trial conduct, regulation, and oversight in the UK and globally would benefit public health worldwide.”

Those with an interest or expertise in clinical trials will be watching the response to this much-needed review – and will be at the ready to support the UK government in delivering on it.

Read the full article in The Lancet here.