Cancer R&D funding decimated during Covid crisis, says NCRI

National Cancer Research Institute warns research impact of pandemic could continue “over next few years”

Cancer research funding in the UK plunged by almost 10 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to figures released by the National Cancer Research Institute.

NCRI says its partners spent £634 million on cancer research in the 2020-21 financial year, which is a decrease of 9 per cent compared with the previous year, when partners spent £694m, despite an upward trend in cancer research spending in the five years leading up to the pandemic.