An open competition for the designation and funding of the new Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs) has been launched by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
CRDCs are an evolution of NIHR’s current Patient Recruitment Centre scheme and will be solely dedicated to advancing the delivery of commercial research by giving health and care organisations extra capacity.
Starting from April 2025, a seven-year investment of up to £77m will help the establishment and operation of these new centres.
NIHR’s CEO, Professor Lucy Chappell, said: “I welcome this exciting new competition for NIHR Commercial Research Delivery Centres which will support research from innovative commercial companies to bring access to new treatments to patients for a wide range of health conditions.
“The CRDCs will work with the other NIHR Infrastructure to ensure people can participate in commercial clinical trials no matter where they live in the country through the establishment of research delivery hubs across settings.”
The NIHR says CRDCs will respond to the five pillars of the government’s vision for the delivery of clinical research:
- Clinical research embedded in the NHS
- Patient-centred research
- Streamlined, efficient and innovative research
- Research enabled by data and digital tools
- Sustainable and supported research workforce
Overall, CRDCs will provide dedicated staff and facilities to conduct commercial research, as well as network of commercially active sites with the best set-up times and performance.
CRDCs are also aiming for the decentralisation of clinical trials to primary, social and community care settings by developing a hub and spoke model.
Driving innovation by acting as a test bed for pioneering approaches, building capacity by providing training opportunities, and increasing research inclusion are included in the project’s core goals.
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