The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) annual review of the performance of clinical trials in the UK shows a growing UK trial landscape, and shines a light on the opportunity of work underway to make things even better.
The report, ‘UK industry clinical trials: Translating actions into impact’ examines data on clinical trials that took place in the UK between 2022/23 and 2024/25.
It shows a promising increase in the total number of industry clinical trials started in the UK. Numbers rose to 578 in 2024, up from 411 trials in 2022 and 426 in 2023.
The UK also remains in the top 10 countries in the world for each phase of clinical trials started in 2024:
- Phase I – sixth place (down one place)
- Phase II – fourth place (same as 2023)
- Phase III – sixth place (up two places)
Overall recruitment across all commercial and non-commercial research studies in England in 2024 was higher than pre-pandemic levels, growing from 385,675 people in 2022/23, to 453,276 in 2024/25.
However, whilst there was an overall increase in the number of participants, there was a decrease in the number of participants taking part in commercial clinical trials, which accounted for just 3.4% of all participants in interventional studies in England in 2024.
Our role in the UK trials landscape
We’re pleased that today’s report shows the impact of Combined Review provided by the Health Research Authority (HRA) and Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
During 2024/25, 97% of studies received a Combined Review decision within the target of 60 days.
The HRA has achieved its target of providing a final opinion on 100% of all CTIMPs in England within 60 days of submission every month since December 2023.
Costing and contracting
Over the past year the HRA has published a series of template agreements to help make the site set-up negotiation process as smooth as possible.
We are pleased to see these changes have been welcomed by industry, and we will continue our work to streamline the costing and contracting process based on the feedback we receive.
Study set-up
The Prime Minister made a commitment to reduce the time it takes for commercial clinical trials to set-up in the UK to less than 150 days by March 2026.
There are three elements to the 150 day target:
- final regulatory decisions – 60 day target
- commercial studies open to recruitment – 60 day target
- commercial studies recruited first participant – 30 day target
ABPI’s analysis shows that whilst the regulatory decisions target is being met, there are still significant delays to studies opening to recruitment, and recruiting the first participant.
Responding to the report Matt Westmore, Chief Executive at the Health Research Authority, said
Matt Westmore, Chief Executive"This report shows encouraging signs of improvement for clinical trials in the UK.
"It is really good to see that the number of participants in interventional studies (commercial and non-commercial) is almost double what it was pre-pandemic. However, it is concerning that the number of participants in commercial research studies has fallen.
“While this may be in part due to changes in the way that studies are designed, we need to make sure that the time it takes to set up studies in the UK does not prevent or act as a barrier to UK patients taking part in commercial studies. That is why we are working to make it faster and simpler to set up research in the UK."
“We are prioritising our work as part of the UK Clinical Research Delivery (UKCRD) programme to streamline the contracting process for commercial research by introducing new model agreements.
“We are also reducing unnecessary duplication of technical assurances at sites, with work underway to increase the use of radiation and pharmacy assurance, as well as assurances around information governance. Supported by voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth (VPAG) investment, all of this work will contribute towards speeding up the set-up of research.
“Over the next 12 months we are also making changes to make it easier to do research in a way that people can trust in the UK. The updated clinical trial regulations come into effect in April 2026, putting participants firmly at the centre of how trials are run while making it easier to test new treatments in the UK. We will also begin to invite users to use our new digital services to plan and manage health and social care research in the UK. Working together with our partners, we are building the infrastructure needed to enable health and social are research in the UK to flourish.
“As the ABPI report notes, the UK offers a unique destination for research, with our relatively diverse population and a single healthcare provider. To help realise this potential, as detailed in the report we are pleased to be leading the development of a UK-wide strategy and roadmap to drive greater diversity and inclusion in clinical trials, which should make it easier to recruit appropriately diverse participants to take part in trials. Alongside investment in Commercial Research Delivery Centres focused on delivering trials all over the UK and action to make it easier to let patients know about research options relevant to them, this can help make the UK an attractive destination to do commercial clinical research- something that we can all benefit from."