Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to incentivise private sector investment into research for (a) brain tumours and (b) other rare diseases.

The Department is committed to implementing recommendations from Lord O'Shaughnessy’s independent review of commercial clinical trials, maximising our potential to be a world leader, and developing a more competitive, efficient, and accessible clinical research system.

The Department aims to ensure that all patients, including those with brain tumours and rare diseases, have access to cutting-edge clinical research and innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The Government funds research through The Department of Health and Social Care funded National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The NIHR and the MRC are jointly funding the Rare Diseases Research Platform UK, a £14 million initiative made up of eleven research centres based at universities, which work collaboratively with industry and charities to accelerate understanding, diagnosis, and therapy of rare diseases.

Additionally, Genomics England, a company owned by The Department, partners with the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms through their Discovery Forum to accelerate new treatment development.