Clinical Research Office. A partnership between Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield

New Experimental Cancer Medicines Centre agreement

Set up and delivery of UK cancer multi-centre clinical trials will become more efficient and easier to get off the ground, thanks to a new agreement between UK cancer clinical trial centres.

The Experimental Cancer Medicines Centre (ECMC) Collaboration Agreement will improve the network’s ability to carry out early phase clinical cancer trials, boosting research and development in the UK and bringing innovative new treatments to patients sooner.

Clinical trials in the UK often face delays because of the variation in how they are set up in each centre. But under the new agreement all 18 ECMC locations including Sheffield will do this in the same way and will work to the same standards – cutting paperwork and helping researchers work more collaboratively.

This will help speed up approval of early phase clinical trials, in turn facilitating patient access to innovative treatments sooner.

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Sheffield have both been significantly involved in the drafting and finalisation of the ECMC Collaboration Agreement which will improve the network’s ability to carry out early phase clinical cancer trials, boosting research and development in the UK and bringing innovative new treatments to patients sooner.

In addition, the Trust has contributed to various ECMC Harmonisation initiatives to facilitate timely study set-up: Protocol Development & Costing, Research Approvals, Pharmacy Technical Review and Radiation Review. Where Sheffield is lead site we adopt the ECMC templates accordingly. 

The ECMC Network is a joint initiative between Cancer Research UK and the four Health Departments of the UK. The centres help the pharmaceutical industry and academic funders develop cancer drugs in early phase clinical trials by bringing together teams of world-leading clinical experts.

Dr Dipak Patel, Research Manager for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Speeding up the delivery of clinical research is vital if we are get innovative treatments to cancer patients more quickly. This new agreement means all 18 ECMC clinical cancer trial centres will be working and collaborating to the same standards and systems, which is really good news for patients.”

ENDS