Building capacity and capability in vaccine clinical trial delivery

5 areas of targeted support

1. Early advice on vaccine protocol and pipelines

Our Independent Vaccine Research Forums provide researchers with access to a range of infection and cancer vaccine clinical experts who can provide early input and advice on vaccine protocols and pipelines. These global leaders in infectious diseases and cutting-edge cancer vaccines help ensure that the vaccine clinical trials coming to the UK are compatible and deliverable in our health and care system. The Forum member’s expertise spans different care settings (primary, secondary, specialist and community care) and specialist research  facilities. Together, they hold unparalleled knowledge of the UK research infrastructure and NHS health and care settings. 

2. Research-ready investigators and sites

Since April 2019, more than 500 UK sites have taken part in vaccine studies. During the pandemic, 200+ sites actively engaged in COVID-19 vaccine trials across primary, secondary, specialist (tertiary), and community care settings.

To enhance capacity for vaccine trials in these settings, we're conducting a nationwide assessment. This aims to identify sites across all healthcare settings that are planning or aspiring to contribute to future vaccine trials, and assess their capacity, capability, and skills. The findings are informing a national training matrix for workforce planning that will ensure the UK can sustain the increasing number and complexity of vaccine trials in different therapeutic areas including cancer, rare diseases and infectious diseases. It will also enable staff at each site to receive training to ensure equivalent high standards of vaccine research delivery capability.

As well as harnessing the expertise of our existing vaccine research leaders, we are also developing the next generation of clinician scientists, chief and principal investigators by facilitating mentoring and career development opportunities.

One example of this is through the NIHR Associate Principal Investigator Scheme (commercial pilot) which is designed to support healthcare professionals to become the principal investigators of the future. The scheme offers practical experience for healthcare professionals starting their research career giving them the skills and confidence to take on the responsibility for the conduct of a research study at a site and to become the PIs of the future.

Read how Dr Owen Hughes, a GP Partner at Cripps Health Centre, was supported by the Associate PI Scheme to get involved in research. The HARMONIE study - a collaboration between Sanofi, its partner AstraZeneca, and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) - became the first commercial study to be delivered under the Associate PI Scheme.
 

3. Vaccine study site identification

We use data, intelligence and expertise to identify the best site for your study based on your specific requirements. This includes:

• intelligence via the Independent Vaccine Research Forums and the national training matrix (detailed above) to quickly determine the sites with the capabilities, expertise and specialist research facilities required
• mapping of UK-wide vaccine research activity, including active and upcoming clinical trials, to coordinate capacity and improve distribution of research across the UK population; increasing both the speed and spread of vaccine research

• scoping of available digital systems to support recruitment, consent and clinical outcome data collection from primary and hospital care.
   

4. Recruit participants into your vaccine clinical trials

During the pandemic more than 50,000 people took part in vaccine clinical trials in the UK. Public awareness of the health benefits of vaccine research remains high. This was demonstrated in the post-pandemic HARMONIE trial - a Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine trial - which recruited over 4000 infants in the UK in four months.

We are proactively engaging healthy volunteers, as well as patients, to register their interest in vaccine clinical trials in order to further build upon the Be Part of Research national registry which makes it easier for researchers and potential study participants to find each other.

To maintain this momentum, we are:

• growing and consolidating ‘consent to contact’ registries, such as the Be Part of Research registry
• putting systems in place so we can approach people through primary care data and digital systems
• continuing to build awareness through public campaigns.

We are also making participation easier through decentralised clinical trials and digital optimisation.
 

5. Cross-cutting areas of focus for continual improvement

Initiatives from across the UK research system are being enhanced specifically for the UK Vaccine Innovation Pathway to further improve vaccine trial delivery. These include:

• streamlining clinical trial set-up and administration including approvals, costing and introducing standardised wording for vaccine clinical trial contracts
• identifying and addressing capacity gaps in the system as a whole, such as in pharmacy and diagnostics
• developing the national network for clinical trial laboratory capability, e.g. for Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell (PBMC) processing
• developing robust mechanisms for tracking long-term outcomes data through the NHS healthcare system - a unique aspect of the UK that is difficult to replicate in other countries.

Contact us if you have suggestions for where we can further optimise the UK’s vaccine research potential.

Contact the Industry team

Working across the UK

The UK Vaccine Innovation Pathway is a cross-sector programme supporting The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery – a collective vision which aims to achieve faster, more efficient and more innovative clinical research delivery – making the UK one of the best places in the world to conduct research. Learn more on the Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery microsite. 

It encompasses the NIHR and its equivalent organisations within the devolved nations. This includes the Clinical Research Network, UK Clinical Research Facilities Network (UKCRF), the Experimental Cancer Medicine Network (ECMC) and infrastructure in Scotland (NHS Research Scotland), Wales (Health and Care Research Wales) and Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Clinical Research Network).

Further information 

For information on how we support research in other therapeutic areas, visit NIHR support for the life sciences industry page (commercial research) or our Researchers page (non-commercial research).

If you would like to speak to our Vaccine Innovation Pathway experts, complete our contact form.

Contact the Industry team

Vaccine research case studies

Browse all our case studies showcasing how we support vaccine research. 

Latest  vaccine research news

First UK lung cancer patient receives novel immune therapy at NIHR Clinical Research Facility

Major study finds new shingles vaccine could lower risk of dementia

New mpox vaccine being tested in the UK

Read all vaccine research news

Contact us to discuss your vaccine development

If you are interested in delivering or contributing to vaccine trials in the UK, or want to know more about the UK Vaccine Innovation Pathway, get in touch.

Contact the Industry team

We will connect you to one of our experts.