Amgen’s investment underlines UK pre-eminence in clinical trials

During 2007 Amgen expects to recruit 55,000 patients to 250 clinical studies worldwide.

More than half of these will be co-ordinated from Amgen’s new European Development Centre in London, open by UK prime minister Tony Blair earlier this year.

Trials across 31 European countries will be managed from the new centre.

Access to skills and opinion leaders

Amgen is taking advantage of the NHS’s unique situation as gateway to the world’s largest, single, patient cohort .

The investment not only emphasises the UK’s position as an attractive venue for carrying out clinical trials, but also the high level of skills built up here as a result.

This confirms the UK’s position as a major worldwide scientific hub for the company.

Willard Dere

Senior vice president

Amgen

The UK has many key medical opinion leaders, whose expertise and insights are highly valued by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and inform their drug-development programmes.

“This move will further strengthen our world-leading capabilities in this area by providing highly skilled new jobs and delivering long-term benefits for patients and the NHS,” said Tony Blair at the opening.

A major scientific hub for Amgen

The new centre is Amgen’s largest R&D investment outside the USA.

“This confirms the UK’s position as a major worldwide scientific hub for the company,” says Willard Dere, senior vice president and international chief medical officer at Amgen.

“We chose London because of its excellent reputation for clinical research and a pool of highly qualified and talented scientists,” he adds.

Improving the clinical trials infrastructure

The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC), a body that brings together clinicians in the NHS, medical research charities and the Government, is in the process of investing £84 million to strengthen clinical research facilities in the country.

The aim is both to improve patient care and provide an attractive environment for carrying out clinical trials.

The Amgen investment shows this is beginning to produce dividends.

Single agreement for clinical trials

One significant achievement of UKCRC is the formulation of a national agreement to streamline the process of setting up trials.

Rather than proposed trials having to be reviewed and approved on a site-by-site basis, a single agreement, announced in November 2006, will be valid across the country.

Andy Burnham from the Department of Health believes the agreement will save money by reducing bureaucracy.

“This is a good example of the Government, the NHS, universities and industry working together to enhance the UK’s clinical-research environment,” he says.

Industry backs the move

Aisling Burnand, chief executive officer (CEO) of the UK BioIndustry Association, which helped to set up the agreement, says, “Use of this template contract will significantly accelerate the initiation of trials.”

Clinical research costing around £3 billion per year is carried out in the UK.

Liam O'Toole, CEO of the UKCRC, believes efficient regulatory processes are a fundamental building block of a first-class clinical research environment.

He hails the model agreement as “an important step in this process”.

Currently, clinical research costing around £3 billion per year is carried out in the UK.

Investments like Amgen’s and further work by the UKCRC and others are likely to boost this significantly.