The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded more than £14 million to GP-led primary care organisations across England to expand commercial research delivery and improve access to groundbreaking clinical trials.
The investment will establish 14 new NIHR Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centres (PC-CRDCs), funded through a public-private partnership between the government and the pharmaceutical industry’s Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth (VPAG) Investment Programme.
Aligned with the government’s health and growth missions, the PC-CRDCs will support the shift of research and care from hospitals into community settings. They will enhance access to clinical trials for people across England, particularly those in underserved groups and communities experiencing the greatest burden of ill health.
By ensuring fairer access to cutting-edge treatments and innovations such as medicines and vaccines through research, the centres aim to help people live healthier, longer lives.
This investment positions the UK at the forefront of the global life sciences sector. It will enhance the UK’s capacity and capability to deliver commercial clinical trials within primary care, supporting the UK’s aim to be a global leader in commercial clinical research delivery, and to reduce commercial clinical trial set-up times to 150 days or less by March 2026.
Dr Sam Davies, GP Managing Partner at West Walk Surgery in Yate, South Gloucestershire, one of the GP practices selected as a new PC-CRDC, said: “We are very excited to have been selected to become a Primary Care Commercial Research Delivery Centre at West Walk Surgery, Yate.
“Heavily involved in research delivery for over a decade, our NIHR South Gloucestershire PC-CRDC will seek to increase research delivery in the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, and Gloucestershire regions, focussing on areas currently under-represented in research, and building on our wide-ranging portfolio of studies.
“Having established highly effective collaborations with many commercial sponsors over the years, we are well-placed to hit the ground running and develop our centre to offer gold-standard research performance.
“Primary Care is an under-utilised setting for research delivery, and it is with great enthusiasm that we now embark on this exciting project, expanding our research team, and offering the chance to take part in commercial research to even more patients.”
Dr Jessica Watson, a GP at West Walk Surgery surgery and a Consultant Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol who supported the surgery’s bid, added: “Our plans include involving patients more effectively in our work, strengthening our links with local NHS hospitals to access specialist services not available at our surgery, such as x-rays and consultant expertise, and helping more local healthcare workers to get involved in research.”
Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health and Social Care and CEO of the NIHR, said: “GPs are the first point of call for many people. Through these new centres we will be able to extend commercial research delivery from the hospitals to the high street. Patients will be able to take part in trials in their local communities, making it easier for them to get access to innovative treatments and technologies. This will allow a wider range of people to take part in research and accelerate delivery of commercial trials by supporting participation.”
What the PC-CRDCs will do
The PC-CRDCs will:
- Accelerate the delivery of commercial clinical trials in primary care with gold standard set-up times and performance, through standardised costing, contracting, and dedicated staff and facilities with consistency of practice.
- Act as hubs to support decentralisation and diversification of clinical trial delivery, leveraging relationships with local NHS organisations, their Integrated Care Systems and NIHR Infrastructure to make trial participation easier and more inclusive.
- Contribute to an increase in research inclusion to ensure people from all eligible communities can participate in commercial clinical trials.
The PC-CRDCs will form part of the NIHR-funded Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) UK Network, alongside the 21 CRDCs established in April 2025. Together these centres will work with industry, NHS delivery partners, the Health Data Research Service (HDRS), other research delivery infrastructure and wider stakeholders to increase the attractiveness of the UK as a desirable global destination to carry out commercial research.
For more information and a full list of the new PC-CRDCs, see the NIHR website.