This podcast is initiated, organised and funded by Merck Serono Ltd. Merck Serono Ltd is a pharmaceutical company.

Nearly 80% of clinical trials fail to adequately recruit participants on proposed timelines negatively impacting patient access to new treatments[i]. Patient recruitment in clinical trials is imperative for a successful study and delays, or low participant numbers, can prevent patients accessing the newest and most innovative treatments.

In this episode our UK & ROI Director of Market Access, Pricing and Government & Public Affairs, Tina Alexopoulos, sat down with Lesley Caldow, Head of In-Country Study Operations at Merck UK & ROI, Sharon Brenan, Director of Policy and External Affairs at National Voices, and Dr Mohini Varughese, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Royal Devon University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor for the University of Exeter, to discuss the barriers patients face in accessing clinical trials, whether these are practical, attitudinal, or communicable, and how these can be overcome.

UI-NONO-00532 | February 2025

[i] Perspectives in Clinical Research,Recruitment and retention of participants in clinical studies: Critical issues and challenges - PMC , accessed December 2024

In the UK today there are around 130,000 people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) and nearly 7,000 individuals are diagnosed with this neurological condition each year.* The impact of MS varies significantly meaning effective care is reliant upon a diverse services landscape with access to multi-disciplinary teams, coordinated care, and choices in treatment. With the establishment last year of 42 new Integrated Care Systems which are gradually assuming responsibility for commissioning MS services, this landscape is evolving.

Check out the latest NAVIGATE episode where our Director of Market Access, Pricing and Government Affairs, Amerah Amin, sits down with Georgina Carr, CEO of the Neurological Alliance, and David Martin, CEO of the MS Trust, to discuss this evolution and gain their perspectives on how these changes can be harnessed to improve the UK’s MS services.

*MS Society, MS in the UK, accessed July 2023

In May this year, NHS England set out their Roadmap for integrating specialised services within ICSs, which set out a blueprint for how the commissioning of specialised services will evolve in England over the coming years to help deliver more joined up, high quality and equal care for patients.

During this special episode of Merck’s navigate podcast, our Market Access & Government Affairs director, Amerah Amin was delighted to talk to Malcolm Qualie, who was previously Medicines Lead for Specialised Services at NHS England, to discuss the future of specialised services in more detail. Amerah virtually sat down with Malcolm to discuss NHS England’s roadmap for specialised services, the opportunities & challenges of integrating these services and what the future of specialised services look like to deliver on these plans.