Pharmaceutical Research and Development Spending

Lord Kakkar Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2022 Grand Committee

[Lord Kakkar (CB)]

My Lords, I apologise for not having added my name to the list. I was responsible for chairing a meeting elsewhere and did not anticipate finishing on time. I am grateful for the indulgence of noble Lords in permitting me to intervene in the gap. In so doing, I declare my interests as chairman of King’s Health Partners and of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research and as an active researcher with studies in the national research portfolio.

I, too, thank the noble Baroness, Lady Wheeler, for introducing this debate so thoughtfully, building, of course, on the immense contributions the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, has made over many years in debates on this question.

I shall confine my comments to the increasing problem that the deteriorating performance in clinical research in our country is having on the capacity to invite inward investment in research and development, as we have heard in this debate.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research is responsible for the application of public funds to ensure that there is infrastructure and capacity available within the clinical research network to deliver our national research portfolio. Is the Minister content that the public funding made available to NIHR to establish that infrastructure and create that capacity in the CRN is appropriately applied? Of course, the NIHR has recognised that there are currently important problems in the delivery of clinical research and is trying to take steps to ensure that the rather bloated national portfolio of approved studies is reduced in some way by the removal of studies that are identified to be underperforming or poorly performing. But this action itself has a profound impact on the perception of the standing of our country as a suitable location for inward investment of research funding to undertake clinical trials. Are His Majesty’s Government content that the approach being taken with regard to management of the portfolio and the problems associated with the size of the portfolio that predate Covid are the appropriate steps? Are appropriate measures being taken to ensure that there is no perceptional impact in terms of reducing the attractiveness of the United Kingdom for overseas funding for clinical research in such a way that it undermines the overall life sciences vision and strategy?

It is important to try to understand where the application of funding to drive the clinical research effort nationally is being directed. Again, can the Minister confirm that there is an appropriate mapping of the populations where the research effort and opportunity might be achieved against where the infrastructure funding to deliver that research is being applied, so that there is a targeted approach that ensures that maximum capacity is delivered, particularly in the medium term, to overcome these particular clinical research problems?