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 13 May to Question 50928 on Brain: Tumours, what discussions he has had with (a) the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit and (b) other stakeholders in the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad on prioritising vaccine trials for brain cancers.

The Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is a platform that will speed up access to clinical trials for cancer vaccines and immunotherapies for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer. NHS England is responsible for the overall delivery of the CVLP and has contracted the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit to manage the day-to-day delivery of the platform. The platform is designed to be company and clinical trial agnostic so any company, including those developing vaccines for brain tumours, can contact the CVLP to explore how the platform can support their research.

My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and officials have not had discussions to prioritise cancer vaccine trials for brain or other cancer types. However, the Government is taking measures to boost brain cancer research. We are working closely with the patient and researcher communities to stimulate high-quality research applications through: establishing a national Brain Tumour Research Consortium to bring together researchers from different disciplines to drive scientific advancements in how to prevent, detect, manage and treat brain tumours; a dedicated funding call for research into wraparound care and rehabilitation for people living with brain tumours; and a partnership with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission to fund the next generation of researchers through the Allied Health Professionals Brain Tumour Research Fellowship programme.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including brain tumours. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality. Welcoming applications on brain tumours to all NIHR programmes enables maximum flexibility in terms of the amount of research funding a particular area can be awarded, and the type of research which can be funded.