The Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) have announced a new joint arrangement for clinical trials. The initiative forms a key part of the developing MRC-NIHR joint strategy for translational research.
As part of the strategy, a new clinical research programme called the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme will be launched in April 2008. The EME will be funded by the MRC, and administered by the NIHR. The programme aims to support excellent clinical science with an ultimate view to improving health or patient care. Its remit includes clinical trials and evaluative studies which add to our understanding of biological or behavioural mechanisms and processes, explore new scientific or clinical principles, evaluate clinical efficacy of interventions where proof of concept in humans has already been achieved and the development or testing of new methodologies.
The new strategy will see the EME programme working with the already established NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme, to ensure that promising technologies are carried from the efficacy and safety stage through to being assessed for clinical and cost-effectiveness to the NHS.
