蜜芽传媒

In March 2006, the pharmaceutical world was shaken by the catastrophic events of the TGN1412 clinical trial that took place at Northwick Park Hospital in London. Initially intended as a potential new treatment for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and certain types of leukaemia, the antibody TGN1412 triggered severe and life-threatening reactions among six of its eight trial participants.

It was an event which changed the way first-in-human clinical studies were regulated in the UK and around the world.

Now, as the Labour government targets life sciences as one of eight key sectors for economic growth, new regulations for running clinical trials are being rolled out across the country for the first time in twenty years. But what is the right balance between regulation and innovation; and how can an industry at the forefront of medical advancements attract patients to be the first to receive new treatments while guaranteeing their safety?

In this documentary, Dr Margaret McCartney, talks to one doctor who was at Northwick Park Hospital, then and now, about what we learned from that fateful event, and goes to a trial centre only miles away which is one of the few in the UK licensed to carry out early stage clinical research. Have we learned enough to keep today鈥檚 volunteers safe as new medical treatments evolve at speed?

Producer: Sandra Kanthal