Boost in trial activity would have huge gains, report says
A new report has highlighted the health and economic opportunity from boosting industry clinical trials.
A report from the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) highlights increasing clinical trial activity across Europe would have significant health, economic and productivity returns.
According to the findings, industry clinical trials contributed more than £31 billion ($42 billion) in economic value across the European Economic Area (EEA) in 2025, combining activity from clinical trial activity itself, R&D spillover benefits and improved workforce productivity through the prevention of sick days.
Increasing industry clinical trial activity by 11%, in line with the European target, could deliver an additional £3.5 billion ($4.7 billion) to the European economy, alongside the creation of 18,000 more new jobs and 35,000 more clinical trial places.
The UK could become ‘a more attractive place’ to invest
The EFPIA report confirms the findings of a previous report commissioned by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) which examined the value of industry clinical trials to the UK economy, the NHS, patients and UK research and development base.
The ABPI report showed that in 2022, industry clinical trials contributed £7.4 billion ($10 billion) to the UK economy, including £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) revenue for the NHS. Restoring industry clinical trial activity to 2017 levels would generate an additional £3 billion ($4 billion) for the UK economy and 26,000 additional jobs.
“These findings complement our earlier work highlighting the value that industry clinical trials bring to patients, healthcare systems, and to economic growth in the UK,” said Dr Janet Valentine, ABPI Executive Director for Innovation and Research.
“Both reports demonstrate the significant gains that could be made by growing our share of global clinical trials.
“The UK government has pledged to improve the UK environment for delivering industry clinical trials, speeding up set-up times and boosting the number of patients enrolled in these trials of cutting-edge treatments.
“We are committed to working with government to make the UK a more attractive place for industry to invest, unlocking the productivity and health benefits associated with in clinical research.”