UK clinical trial approval times cut in half by AI: "It's a milestone for AI in healthcare"

UK clinical trial approval times are now twice as fast in a "milestone for AI in healthcare", experts have said.

The time it takes to approve clinical trials in the UK has been cut by more than half – from an average of 91 days to just 41 days – following major reforms backed by new digital platforms at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), new research published today confirms.

This means patients can safely access promising new treatments – from cancer therapies to rare disease studies – several weeks sooner than before, the release said.

AI is key to this and is helping support clinical trial assessors, scanning thousands of pages of data to flag potential issues for human review. 

Two new MHRA AI tools are being used including The Knowledge Hub, that is helping assessors spot common issues seen in past applications, so they can give trial sponsors clearer, higher-quality advice from the start.

While The Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Compliance Checker verifies manufacturing documents in seconds instead of hours, freeing up experts to focus on complex safety assessments.

AI experts hailed today's announcement.

Mitali Deypurkaystha, Founder/CEO at Newcastle upon Tyne-based Impact Icon AI, said it is a huge moment for AI in health.

She said: "Today’s MHRA results mark a milestone for responsible AI in healthcare. This is exactly what AI is designed for: handling the grunt work so human experts can focus on higher-value decisions. 

"When algorithms verify in seconds what once took hours, patients feel the benefit faster. But progress isn’t just about speed, it’s about reach. While AI is cutting approval times, too many patients still face long waits to access the very breakthroughs it helps unlock. 

"If this momentum is to matter, digital transformation must move in step with human investment, funding the clinicians and infrastructure that turn data into equitable care. 

“AI must not follow the path of past inventions that served only a few. Even today, life-saving drugs exist but remain out of NHS reach due to cost, meaning only the wealthy can access them. AI can accelerate efficient treatment; now we must accelerate equity.”

Colette Mason, Founder & AI Systems Architect at London-based Clever Clogs AI, was also impressed by the intelligent way AI was being used.

She continued: "The real win here is strategic task allocation. AI handles the pattern-matching grind (scanning documents, flagging common issues), while human experts focus on nuanced safety assessments. 

"This is collaborative intelligence at its best, not bolting on automation for the sake of it."