Trust’s £7m grant to spearhead research into 21st Century
LNWH has been named as one of 21 hospital trusts across the UK that will forge closer links with the private sector to improve both the speed and capacity of developing and trialling new medical treatments for patients.
The Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) will provide funding to enable LNWH and its partners to deliver larger numbers of clinical trials across outer North-West London as well as act as a two-way conduit accommodating commercial industry trials as well as funding local research.
The £7m grant will help the trust to double its capacity to accommodate trials with a goal of 40 trials a year by 2029
Christiana Dinah, Director of Research and Innovation for LNWH, said: “We’ve been involved in social industry trials for many years and it is very much a team effort.
“We have been able to provide early access to many life-changing therapies over the years, sometimes 2-3 years before these treatments are available across the NHS.
“This investment will allow us to scale and give our community access to far more potentially groundbreaking treatments.
“We are only one of three trusts in London, along with Barts and Guys, that are now designated CRDCs which brings a lot of new opportunities.
“These close relationships with industry will also enable our clinicians to gain early knowledge of upcoming treatments and funding to enable protected time for research”
The trust will focus on cardiology and diabetes, infectious disease, paediatrics, bowel cancer, ophthalmology and respiratory conditions, in addition to national priority studies.
It will act as a hub to coordinate activity with five spokes which will include Hillingdon Hospital and local GP federations deliver trials.
The centre will support mainly three and four studies, which are the later stages of drug development before final approval for the marketplace by regulators and NICE.
Christiana added: “We have a good track record with medical trials in north-west London including supporting the testing of treatments for obesity and heart health and treatments that prevent sight loss from diabetes which are now widely available.
“However, we will still be doing a lot of work within our communities to build trust and help patients understand the benefits these trials can bring.”
Do you have an interest in industry-sponsored research or have your own research idea you would like to develop?
Please contact ufedo.miachi@nhs.net or nevan.mcnichol1@nhs.net for more details about how the centre could support your work