Investing in the future of UK health: industry’s enduring commitment to UK life sciences
The UK gains huge value from commercial clinical research. As the country seeks to regain its position as a global innovation leader following recent competitive challenges, industry will be a vital driver of innovation and improved outcomes for patients.
Commercial research brings immense benefits to the UK and the 36,000 patients who participate each year.1 Industry trials contribute £7.4bn to the UK economy annually, supporting 65,000 jobs.2 The NHS alone sees an annual windfall of £1.2bn and 13,000 jobs supported, while patients access innovative treatments and industry-funded care.3, 4 NHS trusts engaged in research see better health outcomes and lower mortality, NHS trial locations report shorter hospital stays and improved patient experiences, and job satisfaction is higher among clinicians engaged in research.5
“Commercial research is incredibly beneficial because of the funding, the capacity building, the extra training and the provision of medications to patients at no cost to the NHS,” explains Michelle Szabo, executive director of UK global clinical trial operations at MSD, which has conducted research in the UK for over 100 years.
More generally, commercial trials drive medical progress, improving the health outcomes and lives of patients. “We’ve seen a huge expansion of the science-into-medicine process since I've been an oncologist,” says Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer at NHS England. “You can see it in the likelihood of survival, which continues to rise steadily. Even for late-stage cancers, we've seen improvements in survival as more and more effective treatments have become available.”
“We want to make sure the NHS has the processes and systems in place that enable commercial trials to offer patients new treatments as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
— Peter Johnson, national clinical director for cancer, NHS England
The UK’s commercial research landscape has faced recent headwinds, losing out to stiff international competition in the wake of Brexit and the covid-19 pandemic.6, 7 The number of industry trials initiated in the UK dropped by over 40% in 2017-21.8 By 2023, the UK had slipped in global competitiveness rankings, and trial participation was declining rapidly, stalling progress and limiting treatment access.9
Today, a response is under way, backed by the government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan.10 Measures to re-energise commercial trials include reducing trial set-up times, expanding delivery capacity, and an ambition to increase patient recruitment.11, 12 The message is clear: commercial research is vital.
“We want to make sure the NHS has the processes and systems in place that enable commercial trials to offer patients new treatments as quickly and efficiently as possible,” says Professor Johnson.
Innovation transition picks up pace
Green shoots are apparent. The average launch time for commercial trials is now 100-112 days, down from 153-157 days in the fourth quarter of 2025.13, 14 Faster and more efficient trial set-up can mean patients benefit from earlier access to investigational medicines.
Progress is uneven—participation remains an issue, with only a minority of industry trials meeting deadlines for planned participant numbers—but efforts to improve efficiency appear to be moving in the right direction.15
“The biggest hurdle is consistency,” says Ms Szabo. “It's about making sure the UK can become a more efficient and predictable place to run commercial trials.”
Industry committed to UK recovery
There is clear industry commitment to maximising the impact of research on patients. Overall, the UK secured more than £3bn in commercial investment in the year following the publication of the Life Sciences Sector Plan.16
Ms Szabo points to continued expansion by MSD—the number of MSD studies under way each year in the UK has risen steadily, to 200 in 2026, spanning well over 700 sites.17 The company, which employs 1,400 people in the UK,18 has undertaken more than 80 collaborative projects with the NHS, including 38 currently underway as of November 2026.
“We really want to partner with government and institutions to make sure we support them wherever we can to raise awareness of trials and the importance of research activity in the UK,” says Ms Szabo.
Sustaining the current improvements will help with decisions to conduct first-in-human trials in the UK, further expanding the company’s research involvement and offering patients earlier access to innovative medications.
Figure 1. MSD studies in the UK, 2013-26
Source: MSD.
Maximising the benefits for patients
Looking ahead, the UK will benefit from the links that revitalised efforts will forge between patients and research. Larger, more diverse study populations mean a more reliable, representative pathway to innovation and, ultimately, improved health outcomes.
“In the real world, we have a lot of underserved communities,” says Ms Szabo. “And it's both an ethical and a scientific need to understand how your medicine is going to work in different populations.”
Meanwhile, access to novel treatments offers hope to patients, especially when other options are not available—commercial trials potentially give patients access to medicines years before they are routinely available on the NHS.
“Allowing people to be more rapidly and readily informed about their options—putting more information into the hands of people themselves—is very important,” says Professor Johnson.
“We really want to partner with government and institutions to make sure we support them wherever we can to raise awareness of trials and the importance of research activity in the UK.”
— Michelle Szabo, executive director of UK global clinical trial operations, MSD
Backing industry’s investment in UK society
The UK’s research transition is just beginning, but the early signs suggest a vital new phase of innovation, ultimately promising better outcomes for patients.
“[We must] keep going on the current trajectory,” says Professor Johnson. “An increased focus on making sure trials are available, that we're bringing investment into the country, that we're partnering effectively with pharma and diagnostic companies to bring new tests and treatments here, can only be good for patients.”
The government is rightly placing industry at the heart of its efforts. Commercial research attracts investment, increases access to innovative treatments, builds health system capacity and drives growth. Put simply, it provides hope to existing and future patients while boosting the NHS and the economy.
Discussions around health systems often focus on value; in this case, the investment is society-wide—the impact is felt at home, by patients, their families and their communities.
To learn more about MSD, visit:
GB-NON-13907 | November 2026
This advertisement feature has been funded by MSD UK and developed by E² Studio, the custom content division of Economist Enterprise, on behalf of MSD UK.
Reference
1. National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), “10 reasons to choose the UK for commercial trials”, 2026. https://www.nihr.ac.uk/support-and-services/industry-hub/uk-commercial-trial-benefits
2. NIHR, “Annual Report 2024/25: Transforming UK Clinical Research Delivery”, November 2025. https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/reports-and-performance/annual-report-202425/transforming
3. NIHR, “Annual Report 2024/25: Transforming UK Clinical Research Delivery”, November 2025. https://www.nihr.ac.uk/about-us/who-we-are/reports-and-performance/annual-report-202425/transforming
4. Frontier Economics, “The value of industry clinical trials to the UK”, 3 December 2024. https://www.frontier-economics.com/uk/en/news-and-insights/news/news-article-i20892-the-value-of-industry-clinical-trials-to-the-uk/
5. Frontier Economics, “The value of industry clinical trials to the UK”, 3 December 2024. https://www.frontier-economics.com/uk/en/news-and-insights/news/news-article-i20892-the-value-of-industry-clinical-trials-to-the-uk/
6. Arora, M., Elliott, S., Kilcoyne, A., Bolodeoku, J. and El Baghdady, A., “A mixed-methods evaluation of the quantitative and perceived impact of Brexit on UK oncology clinical trial initiation between 2011 and 2020”, Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, Vol. 19, 2026; online 15 June 2026: 2673689.
7. Lorenc, A., Rooshenas, L., Conefrey C., Wade, J., Farrar, N., Mills, N., et al., “Non-COVID-19 UK clinical trials and the COVID-19 pandemic: impact, challenges and possible solutions”, Trials, Vol, 24: 424, 22 June 2023.
8. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), “UK industry clinical trials: Translating actions into impact”, 2 December 2025. https://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/uk-industry-clinical-trials-translating-actions-into-impact/
9. ABPI, “UK industry clinical trials: Translating actions into impact”, 2 December 2025. https://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/uk-industry-clinical-trials-translating-actions-into-impact/
10. UK Government, “Life Sciences Sector Plan”, 2025; updated 9 July 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-sciences-sector-plan/life-sciences-sector-plan
11. UK Government, “Life Sciences Sector Plan”, 2025; updated 9 July 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-sciences-sector-plan/life-sciences-sector-plan
12. UK Government, “NHS patients and British businesses to benefit from historic changes to medicines access following pharmaceutical partnership with USA”, press release, 2 April 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-patients-and-british-businesses-to-benefit-from-historic-changes-to-medicines-access-following-pharmaceutical-partnership-with-usa
13. ABPI, “Annual clinical trials report 2026”, 5 November 2026. https://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/annual-clinical-trials-report-2026/
14. NIHR,”UK clinical trial set-up times plummet as NIHR strengthens study delivery”, 21 October 2026. https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/uk-clinical-trial-set-times-plummet-nihr-strengthens-study-delivery
15. ABPI, “UK industry clinical trials: Translating actions into impact”, December 2025. https://www.abpi.org.uk/publications/uk-industry-clinical-trials-translating-actions-into-impact/#speed-4
16. UK Government, “Life Sciences Sector Plan: Year One Update”, 2026. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a8eb41b5a0c25165ae46514/DBT_Life_Sciences_Sector_Plan_Update_2_A.pdf
17. MSD. Each site represents one hospital or GP centre participating in one study. A hospital or GP centre involved in multiple studies is counted once for each study.
18. MSD UK. Company overview. https://www.msd-uk.com/company-overview/
