Britain’s Covid research led the world – why have our clinical trials fallen off a cliff? | Andrew Pollard

Pressures on the NHS, a lack of doctors and post-Brexit delays are hampering our ability to develop cutting-edge drugs

The UK's remarkable capability and capacity in clinical research was catapulted on to the world stage during the pandemic. The Recovery trial, led by Oxford University, studied existing drugs in seriously ill patients with Covid-19 and identified the first proven and effective life-saving treatments.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was tested in a trial of more than 10,000 people across the UK, using repurposed research infrastructure in our hospitals and universities, and saved more lives globally than any other vaccine. The mix-and-match vaccine studies known as Com-Cov showed the world how different types of Covid-19 vaccines could be used together, while Cov-Boost provided key data on booster doses that has informed global vaccine policy.

Prof Sir Andrew Pollard was chief investigator of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine trials and is director of the Oxford Vaccine Group