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‘Shocking’ MHRA Performance & Poor Data Transparency Blamed For UK’s Clinical Trial Crisis

 
• By Eliza Slawther

While the UK’s drug regulator, the MHRA, has “pulled its socks up massively” in recent months, its poor performance was highlighted as a top cause of the UK’s faltering clinical trials ecosystem by a former health minister.

James O'Shaughnessy speaking at the Life Arc Translational Science Summit in April 2024
James O'Shaughnessy speaking at the Life Arc Translational Science Summit in April 2024 • Source: Pink Sheet

Lord James O’Shaughnessy, a former UK health minister and leader of a review into the country’s poorly performing commercial clinical trial sector, told attendees of the LifeArc Translational Science Summit on 23 April that a key contributor to the problem was the “performance breakdown of the MHRA,” which he said was “pretty shocking” at the time of the review, 18 months ago.

The UK saw a 44% decline in the number of UK patients recruited to commercial clinical trials between 2017 and 2021, something that prompted the government to commission O’Shaughnessy to...

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How Pharma Companies Can Mitigate The Impact Of US Tariffs On The Supply Chain

 
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