How to improve the Swedish Research Council’s work in clinical research

The assignment also included analysing how the operation can be developed to improve the quality of clinical studies in Sweden, and to increase the number of company-funded studies in Sweden. Our recommendations therefore also concern measures that can contribute to achieving the goals of the Government’s life science strategy.

• Retain the structure and tasks of the Committee for Clinical Therapy Research.
• Give additional funding to the Committee for Clinical Therapy Research for initiatives to increase the research capacity of primary care.
• Close down the Committee for Clinical Studies.
• Let the Swedish Research Council keep the task to support and develop the preconditions for clinical studies in Sweden Transfer responsibility to the management team for how funding for national coordination of clinical studies is to be allocated.
• Appoint a separate secretary general with high scientific competence within clinical research, to work closely with the secretary general for medicine and health.
• Increase the financial resources of the national collaboration Clinical Studies Sweden.
• Strengthen the life science office through increased resources and an organisation that can efficiently coordinate measures and initiatives within life science.
• Establish a national agreement between the government and the healthcare principals on long-term initiatives to promote infrastructure and competence provision for clinical research.

More collaboration and improved infrastructure

To improve the preconditions for clinical research, and thereby increase its quality, more collaboration is needed – both internally and externally. For this reason, the Swedish Research Council wants to create both clearer internal coordination of our various mandates within life sciences, and also satisfy the need for anchoring through more collaboration with other actors in the area. In this work, the life science office plays a key role.

Improvements in infrastructure and support to enable clinical studies to be carried out is something that would benefit all actors, including the life science companies. One step in this direction is to develop the Swedish Research Council’s collaboration with Vinnova, in particular to support to small and medium-sized companies that want to carry out clinical research, but often lack the knowledge, networks and resources. Collaboration between the innovation support system and Clinical Studies Sweden also needs to be developed.

Read the report in full here (only in Swedish).