Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to reinstate funding for the National Institute for Health and Care Research Bioresource project providing infrastructure for the development of novel non-CFTR treatments for cystic fibrosis.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) BioResource worked with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust to establish the Cystic Fibrosis BioResource project, which began recruiting participants in 2021. In October 2024, the NIHR BioResource altered its participant recruitment strategy to focus on two cohorts, and to put greater resources towards its recall strategy.

1,358 participants have been recruited to the Cystic Fibrosis BioResource to date, all of whom will continue to be approached, via recall, to research studies. The NIHR BioResource plans to re-open recruitment to other cohorts, including the cystic fibrosis project, if additional funding can be sourced, for example from industry or charity partners.

The Department does not fund specific disease cohorts within the NIHR BioResource. The Department will be working closely with the NIHR BioResource as they develop their future strategies for participant engagement, recruitment, and retention, to ensure this is appropriate for each cohort and supports the best science.