NEWS
UK health data resource has global impact
New analysis shows Clinical Practice Research Datalink has supported groundbreaking medical research across 29 countries with close to 3,800 published studies. The Clinical Practice Research
Datalink (CPRD), run by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has contributed to nearly 3,800 peer-reviewed research publications since 1988, according to a new scientometric analysis published in the European Journal of Epidemiology. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford and the MHRA’s CPRD team (Eleanor Axson, Maria Rahman and Susan Hodgson), reveals the substantial global impact of this UK- based health data resource in advancing medical knowledge, improving patient safety and informing healthcare policy. An impressive 3,779 peer-reviewed
publications have used CPRD data between 1988 and 2024, with research output growing at an average annual rate of 16.37%. Over 80% of recent studies have used primary care records linked with hospital, mortality or other health datasets, demonstrating the value of connected health data. CPRD is a not-for-profit government
research service that provides anonymised patient data from GP practices across the UK. The database currently holds records for over 71 million patients, supporting research that has informed drug safety decisions, clinical guidelines and public health policy. Eleanor Axson, co-author and
Senior Researcher in the MHRA’s CPRD team, said: “These findings show the UK is a global leader in health data research. This analysis confirms that researchers from 29 countries are using this resource to answer important questions about drug safety and patient outcomes. This international collaboration strengthens our ability to protect public health, both here in the UK and around the world.” Pineda-Moncusí M, Rahman M, Axson EL, Hodgson S, Delmestri A. Academic impact and research data utilisation of the clinical practice research datalink: scientometric analyses. Eur J Epidemiol. Published online January 24, 2026 doi:10.1007/s10654-025-01347-1
UKHSA supporting vaccine breakthrough
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has recently provided specialist laboratory testing for a fridge-free tetanus and diphtheria vaccine that could help address the global challenges of distribution, storage, wastage, and CO2 emissions associated with temperature-sensitive medicines. UKHSA has been working with
Stablepharma, a UK pharmaceutical company, to test its thermostable, fridge- free tetanus and diphtheria vaccine called SPVX02. Phase 1 human trials have now been completed and evaluation of the trial results, conducted at UKHSA’s Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC), suggests that the vaccine remains effective without the need for refrigeration, even after long-term storage at 30°C for 24 months. SPVX02 will now progress to the next stage of clinical trials to confirm these findings. This will involve a clinical trial in a larger number of healthy participants and will compare the effectiveness of SPVX02 to another vaccine already licensed for use in Europe. The trial is expected to be conducted at clinical study sites in the UK over the coming months, and UKHSA will continue to support the trial by testing immune responses to the vaccines administered to the study participants. This a significant step towards
overcoming one of the major barriers to meeting immunisation targets across the world. Most vaccines must be stored at a constant cold temperature from the point of manufacture until they are administered to a patient. This is known as the ‘cold chain’. When that chain is broken, vaccines can lose effectiveness and may have to be discarded. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to half of all vaccines do not reach their intended recipients and cites the difficulty in maintaining this cold chain as a major reason for this wastage. Maintaining the cold chain is particularly challenging in remote areas, during natural disasters, or in countries with unreliable electricity supplies. A vaccine that does not require a cold chain to be effective could therefore be an enormous benefit, especially in the developing world or emergency response situations. Supported by Innovate UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Southampton Clinical Research Facility, the SPVX02 programme is an example of the UK biotech industry, government, and academia working together to improve vaccine access, reduce waste, and strengthen global health resilience.
First CE-marked Parkinson’s test
German biotech company MODAG has announced the market launch of PD DETECT, the first CE-certified test kit for Parkinson’s disease. With the world’s first CE-certified test
kit for Parkinson’s disease, the German company is making innovative seed amplification assay (SAA) technology broadly accessible as a standardised procedure for diagnostic laboratories and hospitals for the first time. Until now, the diagnosis of Parkinson’s
disease was primarily based on the observation of clinical symptoms, which often only become clear in advanced stages of the disease. The highly sensitive biochemical detection of pathological alpha-synuclein aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was restricted to a few specialised research centres. With PD DETECT, MODAG now provides a validated system that enables medical
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institutions to integrate this complex analysis directly into their clinical routine onsite. Developed in cooperation with the
AESKU.GROUP, the kit contains all necessary components to precisely identify Parkinson’s patients at the molecular level – with a sensitivity of 97.8% and a specificity of 100%. By providing this as a test kit, MODAG aims to decentralise cuting- edge diagnostics, making them broadly available and establishing biological certainty rather than clinical probability as the new standard in patient care. By specifically detecting the disease-
associated ‘Lewy fold’ conformation of α-synuclein, PD DETECT can not only confirm Parkinson’s disease but also help distinguish it from other neurodegenerative disorders.
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