North West London Clinical Trials Alliance featured in prestigious journal

The North West London Clinical Trials Alliance has been spotlighted in a recent article published by BioMed Central (BMC), a prestigious scientific journal. The article outlines the transformative impact the Alliance has had on clinical trial management and delivery in the region, offering insights into its innovative approach to collaboration.

The Alliance was established during the COVID-19 pandemic to improve the efficiency of delivering clinical trials, by developing partnership working across organisations to streamline study setup and recruitment processes.

The article highlights standout achievements, including a significant reduction in the time required to initiate trials — from an average of 75 days to just 19.

Other key achievements of the Alliance include:

• an increase in recruitment to commercial studies year-on-year, with approximately 1,500 participants in 2014/15 to 3,500 in 2022/23 and 7,500 in 2023/24
• a new partnership with Roche for their ‘Advancing Inclusive Research’ programme that aims to improve research participation in diverse communities
• being shortlisted for the New Statesman’s inaugural Positive Impact Awards in 2022, in recognition of its contribution to healthcare research

Dr Suki Balendra, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and lead of the Alliance, said:
"The North West London Clinical Trials Alliance was created to bring together the staff at clinical research facilities and primary care settings to help deliver a number of urgent COVID-19 vaccine studies. The Alliance has supported over 12 studies sponsored by 10 different companies. This model is now being applied to other disease areas post-pandemic, and is an integral feature that attracts commercial sponsors to the region."

Read the BMC journal article about the Alliance: The North West London Clinical Trials Alliance: efficiency and innovation in clinical trial delivery