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Month: September 2025

New vaccine trial for head and neck cancer patients

Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Cancer outcomes, Clinical trials, Experimental medicine.

Patients in Birmingham who have advanced head and neck cancers may be eligible to take part in a new clinical trial of a potential cancer vaccine, supported by the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP).

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, part of BHP founder-members University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), is one of 15 sites across the country aiming to recruit more than 100 patients over the next year.

The investigational cancer vaccine in this latest trial on the platform uses mRNA technology to help the immune system recognise and kill cancer cells which express human papillomavirus (HPV) proteins.

The first head and neck cancer patients in England have received the investigational mRNA cancer vaccine in the clinical trial, known as AHEAD-MERIT (BNT113-01), with more patients to soon be enrolled at their nearest NHS hospital. 

More than 11,000 new head and neck cancer cases are diagnosed in England every year, with cancers typically developing in the mouth, throat or voice box.  

Despite advances in care for patients with head and neck cancer, the advanced form of the disease is difficult to treat and has high rates of recurrence, with two-year survival rates at under 50%.

The investigational cancer vaccine is designed to encode two proteins that are frequently found in head and neck squamous cell cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV-16). This is the most common type of head and neck cancer, accounting for 95% of these types of cancers, and the vaccine aims to train the immune system to fight the cancer.

NHS England is partnering with life sciences company BioNTech to help identify potentially eligible patients to refer to NHS hospitals running the clinical trial.

Dr Paul Sanghera, Consultant Oncologist and Principal Investigator of the trial at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, said: “This clinical trial marks an important step forward in the search for better treatments for advanced head and neck cancers, which remain a significant challenge in oncology.

“These cancers are notoriously difficult to treat, and access to this investigational vaccine could offer patients a potential new option in their treatment journey. While we are still in the early stages, the hope is that this trial will pave the way for improved outcomes for those living with these challenging conditions.”

Matthew Metcalfe, Hospital Executive Director at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, said: “We are incredibly proud to be one of the 15 sites across the country taking part in this important clinical trial. It reflects our ongoing commitment to driving forward research aimed at improving outcomes for patients in Birmingham and beyond, offering new hope to those facing these challenging diagnoses.”

Dr Iain Foulkes, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s great to see more clinical trials of vaccines for head and neck cancer supported by the Cancer Research UK-funded Southampton Clinical Trials Unit.

“Research into personalised cancer treatments is vital. There are over 200 different types of cancer and it’s unlikely there will ever be a single cure that works for everyone. That’s why it’s vital that we support a wide range of research, so that more people can live longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.”

More cancer vaccines news from across BHP

Birmingham academic appointed Clinical Lead of new NIHR network

Written by Louise Stanley on . Posted in Birmingham Health Partners, Clinical trials.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded £6.5 million, funded jointly through a public-private partnership with the pharmaceutical industry, to establish a UK-wide Commercial Research Delivery Centre (CRDC) Network. The Network is hosted by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL), with Birmingham Health Partners’ Managing Director Professor Lorraine Harper as its Clinical Lead, and will commence formally on 1 September 2025.

The new Network will provide strategic coordination of all 21 CRDCs across the the UK. It will play a key role in building research capacity, streamlining the interface between industry and the UK clinical trials delivery infrastructure, and enhancing efficiency to deliver commercial clinical research through harmonised processes, in line with the Government’s call to turbocharge medical research earlier this year.

The Network will:

  • Provide strategic leadership and national coordination across the 21 CRDCs across the UK
  • Offer a central point of contact for industry sponsors
  • Facilitate study feasibility, placement and setup across the UK
  • Foster collaboration with regulators, wider NIHR and UK-wide delivery infrastructure, and other key stakeholders to advance UK Clinical Research Delivery
  • Support workforce development, inclusion, and public involvement
  • Facilitate the integration of the Primary Care CRDCs (PC-CRDCs) in England in autumn 2025, adopting them into the Network

By aligning CRDC efforts and offering a cohesive offer to industry, the Network will ensure that the CRDCs deliver against industry expectations for faster, more efficient set up and delivery of commercial research in the UK.

Lorraine Harper, Professor of Nephrology at the University of Birmingham and Managing Director of Birmingham Health Partners, is the Director of the Central and North West Midlands CRDC and has been appointed Clinical Lead of the new Network. She said: “The vision of the Network is to ensure equitable access, diverse recruitment and a much more efficient model of trial delivery, improving NHS and patient access to trials. With Birmingham Health Partners already leading a regional programme to reduce bureaucracy in clinical trials, and BHP member Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals hosting the Central and North West Midlands CRDC, this is an exciting opportunity to align all our work and deliver a ‘gold standard’ for commercial clinical trials.”

BHP founding member Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust hosts the £7m Central and West North Midlands (C&NWM) CRDC, working closely with regional partners Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust – host of Staffordshire and Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Health Research Partnership (SSHERPA) – and the Black Country Provider Collaborative.

The C&NWM region, home to 4.2 million people, includes many of the UK’s most economically deprived communities who face significant health inequalities and higher rates of serious illness. The CRDC will focus on addressing these inequities by increasing access to clinical trials for patients who have the greatest need – dovetailing with BHP’s strategic focus on addressing health inequalities and giving greater opportunities for residents to participate in research.

Professor Melanie Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester and Honorary Consultant Diabetologist for University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, and Director of the CRDC Network, said: “We are really proud that University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has been awarded this funding to host this federated CRDC Network across the four nations of the UK. We are fully committed to working with our partners across the UK to deliver faster, more efficient set up and delivery of commercial research. We want to drive increased investment from industry and enable even more people to take part in studies that can lead to the future approval of new medicines and devices for the benefit of patients in the UK.”

Dr Maria Koufali, NIHR Life Sciences Industry Director, said: “The UK CRDC Network is a critical part of our national effort to transform UK clinical research delivery. By streamlining trial set-up and expanding access into community and underserved settings, it will help make the UK one of the most attractive destinations globally for commercial research. This means faster access to innovative treatments for patients, greater investment in the NHS and a stronger life sciences sector that boosts the health and wealth of the nation.”