The UK has become very good at saying yes to clinical trials. Set-up now averages 112 days, down from more than 250 in 2022, and every study got an approval decision within 60 days in August. Patients are still joining industry trials in smaller numbers, five years running.
One story today, so there is no thread to force. It is about what happens after the yes.
A Fast Front Door
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) is blunt about the good news: “regulatory approval is now a clear UK strength.” The government confirmed the set-up figure in October: 112 days in the year to March 2026, comfortably below its 150-day target. The ABPI welcomed it.
By that measure, the UK is a restaurant with an excellent host. Guests are greeted, checked in, and seated before they have finished taking their coats off.
Tables Not Ready
The government’s metric covers the time taken to secure approval, open the first site and recruit the first patient. The ABPI argues that this gives only a partial picture. Broader site activation data, it says, show “substantial time lags between first and last site opening.”
