Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) average and (b) longest time taken by MHRA to evaluate a clinical trial was in each of the last five years for which data is available.

For the financial year 2018/19, the average time taken by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to assess a clinical trial was 23.29 days. The longest time taken was 56 days. For the financial year 2019/20, the average time taken by the MHRA to assess a clinical trial was 23.47 days. The longest time taken was 56 days. For the financial year 2020/21, the average time taken by the MHRA to assess a clinical trial was 21.43 days. The longest time taken was 49 days. For the financial year 2021/22, the average time taken by the MHRA to assess a clinical trial was 27.58 days. The longest time taken was 68 days. For the financial year 2022/23 (April 2022 – February 2023 inclusive), the average time taken by the MHRA to assess a clinical trial was 42.78 days. The longest time taken was 146 days.