The UK Government is to make a major new investment into the research and cure of four major diseases - Alzheimer's, stroke, diabetes and mental health and will also work on developing new medicines for children.

An extra £200 million will be invested by 2008 in joint research projects while the NHS will receive its largest sustained increase in research funding with a further £25 million for each of the next four years.

Central to the plans is the creation of a new body - the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC), to facilitate greater collaboration between the NHS, the Medical Research Council, medical charities and the pharmaceutical industry.

The UKCRC will build on what the government claims is the "outstanding success" of the National Cancer Research Networks (NCRN), which have doubled the number of patients in clinical trials and will provide a model for researching the other diseases.

Announcing the new investment, Health Secretary John Reid said: "Since we know that this investment [in medical research] saves lives, the government will go further and faster in investing in clinical research. Our experience with the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) taught us that the real power to solve some of our outstanding health problems comes from the Government investing in collaboration and partnership."

He added: "Investment in research saves lives - that is why the Government wishes to make Britain the best place for R&D and innovation in the world. I wish to ensure that the NHS's contribution to medical research is one of the centrepieces of that.

ABPI director general Dr Trevor Jones welcomed the news, saying: "This is excellent news for clinical research in general as well as these priority disease areas. This investment in collaboration and partnership means more patients will benefit from the latest scientific and medical advances and will give more patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials."

Since 2001 when the government launched the NCRI, 34 cancer research networks have been established in England, each one overseen by a clinical and administrative lead with responsibility for leadership and management of the local networks.

pharmafocus@pharmafile.co.uk