CSP032: Business Development & Marketing

It is essential that the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network (CRN) continues to expand its Portfolio of clinical research studies in order to:

• create wider opportunities for patients and the public to participate in clinical research;

• contribute to both:

  • the Government’s Strategy for UK Life Sciences, and;

  • the NIHR’s vision to improve the health and wealth of the nation.

By increasing investment into the Network and developing partnerships with the Life Sciences industry and funders of non-commercial research, the CRN will develop a broad and deep Portfolio of research.

The successful delivery of studies to recruitment time and target is of prime importance in attracting and securing future business for the CRN and is a key business development role for LCRNs.

This Contract Support Page provides additional advice and information to enable LCRNs to fulfil the contractual obligations and mandatory requirements relating to business development and marketing, as specified within Section C.23 of the Performance and Operating Framework (POF) Appendix A of the DHSC/LCRN Host Organisation Agreement (2023/24).

The CRN Business Development and Marketing (BD&M) Strategy (extended to 31 March 2024), sets out the vision and goals for CRN BD&M and the roles of the CRN Coordinating Centre BD&M Directorate and LCRNs in delivering the strategy.

Our BD&M vision is that the UK is a prime location to undertake clinical research:

• In the top five locations globally, and

• The top location in Europe

For this vision to be realised, the CRN Coordinating Centre works closely with other parts of the NIHR e.g. the NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure (NOCRI), as well as  organisations with a remit to improve the research environment in the UK and drive innovation, e.g. the government Department for International Trade (DIT).

CRN BD&M activities are designed to deliver the goals of the CRN BD&M Strategy:

• to increase the volume and value of research on the CRN Portfolio; 

• to identify changes in clinical research design, delivery and pipelines to enable the CRN to respond; 

• to identify and highlight the impact and value to the UK economy of research supported by the CRN.

The role of the CRN Coordinating Centre BD&M Directorate is to lead, manage, coordinate and support the CRN’s BD&M activities.  LCRNs are expected to develop and maintain a vibrant local NHS research environment within their area and as part of a national system.

Business development with national life science companies and non-commercial research funders is the responsibility of the CRN Coordinating Centre.  Engagement with local small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) within the LCRN area is the responsibility of the LCRN with support from the CRN Coordinating Centre. 

Section C.23 of the Performance Operating Framework (POF) sets out ‘must dos’ for LCRN Host Organisations. 

Requirement

1. Ensure that any LCRN business development and marketing plans are aligned or complementary to national NIHR CRN business development objectives.

2. Work with the national Business Development and Marketing (BD&M) team to support national business development initiatives.

3. Provide the national BD&M team with intelligence on LCRN interactions with NIHR CRN customers to support key account relationship discussions.

4. Ensure that life sciences companies are appropriately briefed about the national CRN Study Support Service to help inform nationwide planning, placement and performance of research.

5. Using the template provided by the CRN Coordinating Centre, update the LCRN marketing profile annually upon request.

6. Provide details of a named individual responsible for producing the LCRN marketing profile.

7. Ensure relationships with LCRN Partners and the local R&D community foster shared ownership of, and engagement with, NIHR CRN nationwide planning and placement activities for new research.

Local BD&M plans should outline how the LCRN will align with or complement the national NIHR CRN business development objectives, including promoting the importance of the industry agenda to LCRN Partner organisations and clinical teams.  LCRNs should use the CRN Business Development and Marketing resources provided for different sectors as well as NIHR resources e.g. NIHR charity engagement.   Information on resources may be found on the BD&M microsite.

LCRN core teams should contribute to the development of case studies illustrating CRN support for, and successful delivery of, studies in areas relating to national business development objectives.  For example, suggesting case studies to the BD&M team, commenting on the suitability of proposed case studies or suggesting local contacts to be involved.  Information on existing or potential case studies should be provided in the relevant marketing profile section.

LCRNs must engage with their link Business Development Manager to share intelligence on LCRN interactions with NIHR CRN Customers to support key account relationship discussions.  As a minimum, LCRNs will report interactions with CRN Customers at the quarterly meetings of the national BD&M team and LCRN Industry Operations Managers, and contribute to the regular sharing of intelligence through agreed national processes. See Appendix 1 for details of LCRN Link Business Development Managers.

LCRNs must ensure that their staff who work with life science companies are able to confidently and appropriately convey the same messages to them as the national BD&M team.  This would include having a good understanding of the study support service and being able to confidently  share information regarding the service and appropriately signpost companies to the correct pages on the NIHR website: Deliver commercial research in the NHS. If LCRN staff are uncertain, they should contact their link Business Development Manager for advice.

The purpose of the profiles is to highlight the particular strengths and needs of the LCRN to support the national and international marketing of CRN and its services. The content and format of the profile is likely to change over time to meet the developing needs of our Customers, LCRNs and the research landscape in which we operate.

Details of the template and guidance on updating it are included in Appendix 2 of this document. The Business Development team and Industry Operations Managers representatives will be reviewing the template in partnership during March 2023 to ensure this meets stakeholders needs.

Profile Leads are expected to be a member of the LCRN senior operational team with responsibility for working with local organisations and individuals as part of their role within the LCRN.  The Lead is expected to work with the national BD&M team and their fellow Profile Leads to develop the Profile template and contents over time.  Their name, job title and email address must be provided in the contact section of the Profile template.

LCRN research delivery management teams should be knowledgeable about the CRN study support services and support staff in their local Partner organisations and R&D community to engage with and own the national CRN activities that support the planning and placement of new research studies in  health and care services.

Further information in support of this requirement can be found in CSP043, CSP049, CSP050 and CSP051 (reflecting the National Contract Value Review Process). These Contract Support Pages (CSPs) can be found on this site. 

Karl Davison, Business Development Manager (karl.davison@nihr.ac.uk)  is the primary contact for any queries on the LCRNs. Alternatively please contact Nicola Yallup, Head of Business Development and Marketing (nicola.yallup@nihr.ac.uk).

All LCRN information will be available in this single document.  Not only will this enable the national Business Development & Marketing team to have an overview across the CRN, it will support the sharing of information across LCRNs.

All tabs in the template should be completed.  If you do not have any information for every cell, please indicate this so we do not chase you for missing information prior to review.

The profile should not contain information that is considered standard CRN business such as performance data or the study support service offer.

Please:

• Keep responses concise - if we need more details, we will contact the Profile Lead listed on Tab 1, alternatively, you may wish to provide links to documents

• Enter your information against the row for your LCRN; the cells should expand as you type or copy and paste into the cell

• Indicate if the information provided relates to commercial or non-commercial research, or both.

Where appropriate, please cross-reference to the relevant section of your Annual Business Plan or associated documents to save duplication.

Tab 1: Profile Lead details

Enter the name, job title, contact email address and contact telephone number of your Profile Lead in the row against your LCRN name.

Tab 2: Opportunities, plans and ideas

In the row for your LCRN, add information on the following in the columns:

Column B: Areas for development:

• enter brief information about any development areas your LCRN has identified that would be useful for the BD&M team to know about or you’d wish to have publicised more widely by the team;

Column C: Portfolio gaps:

• use this column to identify the needs of your local portfolio to inform the national team so they can match any opportunities that arise in pipelines with the needs in each area. Enter brief information if you have under-used capacity in certain sites, gaps in specialty portfolios, specific research fields or populations with health needs that are not involved in research, or any other gaps you may have locally; 

Column D: Initiatives:

• enter brief information about any initiatives you have to encourage the development of new or early career researchers; sites, for example, ‘green shoots’ initiatives or any other new developments;

Column E: Unique selling points:

• enter brief information about the LCRN’s strengths, opportunities and ambitions in particular areas of research and expertise. For example, capacity to deliver CAR-T Cell Therapy trials, delivery of research in the community/out of hospital or non NHS settings, specialties, facilities e.g. imaging;  

• let us know about any new facilities or capabilities added in the previous 12 months;

• we are interested in any global, European or UK firsts in your area in the last 12 months. This data will be collected through separate mechanisms.  

Tab 3: Information or ideas to share

Column B: Case studies:

This tab is where we welcome suggestions for case studies to demonstrate successful delivery of the Study Support Service, either single elements or the whole service.  Of particular interest are examples that are:

• related to Business Development & Marketing projects or areas of emerging technology and innovations that may be developed or used to promote the CRN and its services (see Tab 5);

• delivered in partnership with other parts of NIHR infrastructure e.g. Medtech and In vitro diagnostics Co-operatives (MICs), Biomedical Research Centres, local partners e.g. Academic Health Science Networks, or funders e.g. charities; 

Column C: Successes and innovations

• enter brief details of any examples of successes, areas of good practice or innovations that you would like to share within the wider CRN and NIHR.

Tab 4: Any other information

On this tab, please provide any other information that you think would be of interest to life science companies, researchers or research funders.

Tab 5: Background information

On this tab, you will find links to the Business Development and Marketing (BD&M) microsite with details of the BD&M projects and initiatives, and the Medical Directorate microsite with details of the areas of Emerging Technologies and Innovations.

BD&M: Business Development and Marketing

COO: Chief Operating Officer

CRN: Clinical Research Network

DHSC: Department of Health and Social Care

DIT: Department for International Trade

HRA: Health Research Authority 

LCRN: Local Clinical Research Network

MICs: Medtech & In vitro diagnostics Co-operatives 

NHS: National Health Service

NIHR: National Institute for Health and Care Research

NOCRI: NIHR Office for Clinical Research Infrastructure

SME: Small to medium sized enterprise

Version number: 1.1 

Effective from date: 30 January 2023