Impacts

Our NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility (NIHR CRF) plays a key role in driving new treatments and practice to the clinic, delivering research and commercial trials driving new therapies and rapidly advancing patient health.

Here you can discover more about the pioneering research taking place at the facility and learn more about the wide reaching impact of our work.

Delivering COVID-19 treatment trials of a Southampton-developed antiviral in record time

When the pandemic struck, our CRF responded in record time to deliver COVID-19 treatment trials of a Southampton-developed antiviral it had helped develop for over a decade.

Launching a dedicated vaccine trials centre during lockdown

Years of NIHR investment in first-in-man trial expertise and delivery paid dividends at the height of the pandemic response, when the NIHR Southampton CRF launched a dedicated vaccine trials centre in a locked-down University of Southampton sports hall in mid-April days.

Contributing to a rapid COVID-19 test
in just two months

Our laboratory team’s pandemic response enabled the progression of a rapid COVID-19 test from idea to frontline clinical use in just two months. This underpinned a nationwide rollout of rapid COVID-19 tests that cut hospital transmission across the NHS.

Delivering cutting edge gene therapy trials

An innovative 2019 co-investment with commercial partners by our NIHR CRF continues to underpin patient access to cutting edge genetic engineering technology trials, and University Hospital Southampton’s major investment in a dedicated centre for emerging technologies and therapies.

Lynchpin in $220M fight against breathlessness

Our unit involved in the emergence of a $220M drug development programme aiming to minimise the impact of the common cold and other viruses on asthma and COPD sufferers.

Enabling new antimicrobial therapies

Chronic lung infection in cystic fibrosis is a serious issue; our novel assays of bacterial biofilm degredation are one aspect of our central role in biotech firm Antabio's €3.9million Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery award.

Landmark study could save NHS £100 million

The facility was central to a UK-wide trial demonstrating that wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can be treated with a drug 10 times cheaper than the current treatment, representing a potential saving of £100 million per year.