Scotland joins pharma company’s medical research programme

Scotland’s patient database and history of academic collaboration have helped it strike a research deal with pharmaceutical services company Quintiles.

The partnership means that researchers working within the four teaching health boards—Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow—will have greater access to clinical trials. Scotland already has around 30 studies open at any one time in its population of 5 million. As the single healthcare provider, NHS Scotland may be able to improve its patient data collection with the implementation of a new electronic records system by Quintiles.