Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 December 2025 to Question 100476 on Brain: Tumours, what plans the National Institute for Health and Care Research has to undertake horizon scanning of the pharmaceutical and biotech project pipelines to identify potential candidates suitable for developing vaccines for brain tumours in conjunction with the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad.

The Department invests over £1.6 billion per year in research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Cancer is a major area of NIHR spending at £141.6 million in 2024/25, reflecting its high priority.

The NIHR is continuing to invest in brain tumour research. For example, in December 2025, the NIHR announced the pioneering Brain Tumour Research Consortium to accelerate research into new brain tumour treatments. The NIHR invested an initial £13.7 million in the consortium with a further £11.7 million announced in January 2026. The world-leading consortium aims to transform outcomes for adults and children and their families who are living with brain tumours, ultimately reducing lives lost to cancer.

The NIHR supports cancer vaccine innovation through a coordinated national model, combining the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad’s clinical prioritisation with the Vaccine Innovation Pathway and the NIHR Industry Hub’s horizon scanning, feasibility, and delivery capability. The NIHR Industry Hub undertakes horizon scanning of pharmaceutical and biotechnology pipelines, as part of its national industry engagement and delivery role, to identify emerging cancer vaccine and immune-therapy platforms, including those with potential relevance to hard-to-treat cancers such as brain tumours. Promising candidates are supported through a single national operating model delivered via the NIHR Industry Hub, which provides a coordinated entry point for industry, structured feasibility assessment, and delivery assurance. Cancer vaccine trials continue to be prioritised and delivered in partnership with the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, with accelerated delivery capability provided through the Vaccine Innovation Pathway. Together, this integrated approach ensures that as the science matures, the United Kingdom is able to identify, assess, and rapidly progress suitable cancer vaccine candidates into high-quality clinical trials within the NHS.