NHS Research Scotland (NRS) and CRO Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) have formed an alliance designed to increase the amount of clinical research conducted in Scotland, accelerate the development of new medical therapies and enhance healthcare treatment options for the people of Scotland.

PPD will work closely with the major health boards across Scotland to further reduce study start-up times, streamline regulatory approval processes, increase the number of patients recruited for clinical trials and ensure the availability of resources and training to increase the number of physicians and support staff conducting research.

The initiative covers a broad range of phase I-III trials across multiple therapeutic areas, as well as biosimilar and post-approval studies. A significant percentage of Scotland's 5.3 million people have participated in a clinical trial, and Scotland has a high incidence and prevalence of diseases in key therapeutic areas of focus in clinical research.

"This initiative will further Scotland's growing reputation as a global center of excellence for clinical research, offering a significant number of world-leading research sites and clinical investigators with expertise across a wide range of disease indications,” said Cabinet Secretary for Health Nicola Sturgeon.

PPD's team of more than 300 professionals in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, offers expertise in clinical management, data management, project management, pharmacovigilance, biostatistics and quality assurance.

"Scotland's intellectual and technical resources, coupled with recent advances in streamlining processes for conducting clinical research, make Scotland an extremely attractive location for clinical research," said Roger Newbery, Ph.D., PPD's vice president of clinical management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "The population's high participation rate in clinical trials and our new collaboration should enable us to assist our clients in accelerating their important research programs in Scotland."

NRS is a partnership between the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates and NHSScotland, part of the U.K.'s National Health Service. Its aim is to ensure that NHS Scotland provides a world-class environment for clinical research.