54 HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Panthera says taking part in clinical trials benefits both patients and doctors. Patient volunteers get access to regular health assessments and potentially new treatments that could help alleviate symptoms, as well as helping to advance medical understanding. GPs get the opportunity to take part in groundbreaking clinical research.
Stuart Young Continued from Page 53
Dr Smith converted a section of his surgery into a research centre and took the idea to groups around the UK. The result was a company called Synexus, which grew to become the largest SMO in the world, with clinics across four continents.
He then went on to launch Panthera in 2019, along with Prof John Lyon, a serial entrepreneur and previously a global vice president of drug development business Covance. Dr Smith remains a member of the board.
Panthera has continued to refine the SMO model and has quickly grown to be number one in the UK when it comes to recruiting patients and running trials. It has a staff of 120, many of them highly qualified healthcare professionals, and its turnover in 2014 was £16m.
Independent SMOs like Panthera are experiencing rapid growth. With more than 50 dedicated trial sites across the UK, the sector continues to expand.
Panthera’s impressive state-of-the-art clinic and head office can be found in the purpose- built, super-practice at Issa Medical’s Fatima Health Centre in Fulwood.
Chief executive Stuart Young’s background is in data management. He was recruited from Synexus, where he ran its UK division, to help launch Panthera.
He says: “The way clinical research works, we are working on studies being carried out in a global environment.
“Our biggest customers are the biggest pharma
oncology, heart disease and chronic pain. Obesity is another area of growing attention.”
Panthera opened its sixth UK site in York last year and Stuart says more are in the pipeline. He says: “We’ve opened a site a year on average and every one is a significant investment.
“We’re now looking at international expansion into the EU and we are assessing operations in countries like Spain and Germany. It is pretty exciting to think all this came from a GP in Chorley and that the model he created is now the standard for research around the world.”
He adds: “Every person that takes part in a clinical trial gets an extremely high level of follow up and investigation, even if they don’t actually end up on the drug being trialled.
“There is no guarantee that they are going to be given something that is going to change their life but they get fantastic healthcare just from being a part of a trial.
We’re now looking at international expansion
into the EU and we are assessing operations in countries like Spain and Germany
and biotechs in the world, people like Pfizer, GSK and AstraZeneca.
“We also work with smaller biotechs and university spin offs and generally we’re involved in long-term studies around efficacy and safety.
“Some of our work is in the more demanding, hard-to-deliver areas, such as dementia,
“We need to educate more people about what we do and get the message out to patients. Even if there isn’t a trial for you right now, get registered, because there might be in the future.
“We have a community of people here who are passionate about clinical research and there is still so much more that we can do.”
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