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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

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Factual: Politics

Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad.

Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.

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Analysis: Marvellous Medicine

Marvellous Medicine

BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, Marvellous Medicine

Has the pandemic enabled us to accelerate the pace of drug development?

Most of us were blindsided by the novel virus SarsCov2, but infectious disease experts had been warning about the possibility of a global pandemic for some years. For them it was never a matter of if, but when.  What did come as a surprise was the speed of scientific progress to fight Covid 19.  The first effective vaccine, from Pfizer/BioNTech, was developed in under 300 days, followed  in successive weeks by Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca.  The results of the UK’s RECOVERY trial, which was organised in a matter of weeks, has saved an estimated million lives worldwide by identifying which treatments are effective in treating Covid 19. And regulators around the globe, like Britain’s MHRA, are using innovative programmes to get medical products to people faster.  During the pandemic, the world witnessed how fast medicine can advance with an abundance of cash and collaboration.  Is progress at this speed and cost sustainable?  Sandra Kanthal asks if drug development is something which should still take decades, or have we learned how to permanently accelerate the process? 

Guests: 

Rod MacKenzie, Chief Development Officer, Pfizer
Nuala Murphy,  President Clinical Research Services, Icon
Professor Sir Martin Landray, Co-Chief Investigator, RECOVERY Trial
Nicholas Jackson, Head of Programmes and Technology, CEPI
Christian Schneider, Interim Chief Scientific Officer, MHRA
Hilda Bastian, Independent Scientist    

Producer and Presenter Sandra Kanthal
Editor Jasper Corbett

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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