House of Commons - Science and Technology

Select Committee on Science and Technology Written Evidence

Annex 5

MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL (MRC)

INTRODUCTION

The MRC's intramural programmes, based in Institutes and Units (MRC "RCIs") are a key element in delivering the MRC's mission to improve human health; produce skilled personnel; advance and disseminate knowledge and technology to improve quality of life and economic competitiveness; and promote dialogue with the public.

Almost all of the MRC's RCIs are wholly-owned; by far the majority of the staff are employed by the MRC; and in each the MRC is the largest single funder (though all RCIs are encouraged to seek external funding, so long as this fits the RCI's remit and does not detract from the MRC-funded work)

The MRC currently supports 32 Institutes and Units (a list of current RCIs is at the end of this annex). These range from the three main Institutes: the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) and the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre (CSC) through medium sized Units, two of which are based overseas (in the Gambia and Uganda) to some small, highly-focused Units. The UK-based Units are widely distributed throughout the country from Dundee to Bristol, with clusters in Cambridge, Edinburgh, London and Oxfordshire. The research supported on intramural programmes covers basic research into biological function, work which is more disease-oriented, and research into health services and public health.

The difference between an Institute and a Unit, is:

(a) size, and

(b) the level of autonomy given to the Director.

The MRC's intramural programme has an international reputation for excellence. Of the 27 Nobel Laureates in Physiology/Medicine and Chemistry that have worked for, been supported by, or had associations with the MRC, 19 have worked in MRC Institutes or Units, 13 in LMB alone. Humanised antibody technology, built on patented and licensed discoveries in one of the MRC's Institutes, has spawned a new multi-billion pound section of the pharmaceutical industry. Eleven therapeutic products are currently licensed for use in treating breast cancer, leukaemia, asthma, arthritis, psoriasis and transplant rejection; dozens more are in late-stage clinical trials. Research at the National Institute for Medical Research characterised the molecular changes that made the virus responsible for the 1918 influenza epidemic so virulent. In the most significant recent advance in preventing cardiovascular disease, a major trial of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, co-ordinated by the Clinical Trial Service Unit in Oxford, has shown that these drugs can prevent around a third of heart attacks and strokes in people at risk.

In addition to RCIs, the MRC funds Research Centres, based in HEIs and supported by extramural grants. Currently there are twelve such Centres in operation, across the UK from Bristol to Edinburgh, covering a wide range of scientific topics. Centre grants support partnerships between the MRC and host institutions, whose aim is to help HEIs or academic analogues to develop and sustain centres of excellence with a clear strategic direction, in areas of importance for UK medical research. Staff are employed by the host institution. Each centre is governed by a formal agreement between the MRC and the host.

Q1. The role of RCIs in maintaining the UK research and skills base

The MRC's Institutes and Units play a vital role in enabling the MRC to fulfil its mission. The Council has recently completed a major review, instigated when the current CEO was first appointed, of the rationale for supporting Units, and the mechanisms for their review.

The Council has agreed that MRC should fund Institutes and Units for two main reasons:

To meet a scientific strategic need

To meet a strategic need for resources, services or facilities

These criteria are taken into account when Council decides whether to set up a new Unit, and the MRC's Research Boards decide whether to recommend to Council continued funding for an existing Unit.

Intramural support in the MRC is characterised by:

— a staff complement largely employed by the MRC, able to engage long-term in full-time high-quality research, with MRC as their main research funder; and

— a Director who provides scientific leadership and vision, within the broader context of the MRC's own scientific strategy, and who has full managerial control over resources.

The Council believes that such support enables a critical mass of resources to be brought to bear long-term on inter-disciplinary approaches to research and training, on knowledge transfer and on science in society activities. It allows MRC scientists to take more innovative and therefore "risky" approaches to research problems that hold out the promise of high pay-offs, in ways which would not be so easy with short term research funding. Intramural support has a high interdisciplinary component: RCIs represent flag-ship, leading entities in the UK, with a critical mass of individuals able to focus full-time on vital long-term research, providing first-rate training and career development, and acting as magnets for high-quality people in the field.

Long-term support of MRC-employed staff through Institutes and Units has enabled the MRC to offer exemplars of best practice in training and staff development, in knowledge transfer, and in science and society activities.

Training and staff development. MRC Institutes and Units provide excellent environments for research training and career development, which have enabled the MRC to attract the best young scientists. Each year, MRC Institutes and Units host over 300 MRC-funded PhD students and in addition train many more students funded from other sources. The MRC provides career development opportunities and training of young scientists up to tenure track level, as well as the continuous professional development of the staff it employs. For instance, the MRC Career Development Fellowship scheme in MRC Institutes and Units, furnishes over 200 post-doctoral scientists with fixed-term training positions. In addition, the Institutes and Units provide training to many scientists supported by other funding bodies. MRC Institutes and Units, such as the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, offer research training opportunities for clinicians.

Knowledge Transfer. Intellectual property (IP) created in the MRC's Institutes and Units is owned by the MRC and actively exploited on the Council's behalf by the MRC-affiliated company, MRC Technology. The MRC has a strong record: income earned by the MRC on its IP has exceeded that earned by all English Universities put together twice in recent years. Exploitation of MRC discoveries in humanised monoclonal antibodies has culminated in the MRC start-up company, Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT), becoming the first biotechnology company to have a blockbuster humanised monoclonal antibody drug, Humira(R). The American pharmaceutical company, Abbott has agreed to pay (via CAT) US$255 million in lieu of the future royalties that the MRC, the Scripps Research Institute and Stratagene would have received on sales of Humira(R) after December 2004. Of this sum, the MRC has received US$191 million. In addition, Abbott will pay (via CAT) the MRC a further US$7.5 million over five years from 2006, providing Humira(R) remains on the market.

The results of the MRC's intramural research programme are also applied into healthcare and public health practice. For instance, research in the MRC Social & Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow has helped identify associations between unhealthy behaviours (smoking, diet etc) and ill health, and how these might be addressed.

Science in Society. MRC Institutes and Units have a unique opportunity to contribute to national science in society activities, owing to the way they are set up and run. Public engagement activities are assessed as part of the 5-yearly review of each Unit or Institute, providing an impetus for scientists and administrators to create an environment in which public engagement opportunities can be encouraged and expanded. There is a close synergy between the communications aims of the Institutes and Units and those of MRC head office, which has recently been strengthened by the creation of Regional Communication Manager posts, reporting to the Head of the Corporate Communications Group in Head Office. These Managers act as conduits between head office, Units and Institutes, and encourage the pooling and sharing of resources and ideas.

The Costigan review undertaken by OSI in 2005 made a number of comments on the governance of MRC RCIs, these are referred to in the relevant places in this submission.

FUNDING DECISIONS AND MRC INSTITUTES AND UNITS

Quinquennial Review of MRC's Units

The MRC supports research using the most appropriate funding mechanism, whether through extramural grants, or intramural funding of research in the MRC's own Institutes and Units.

Existing MRC Institutes and Units are each reviewed on a five-yearly cycle. The Council has recently undertaken a major review of how these reviews should be conducted, and the resulting recommendations are now being implemented. There are three elements to review:

— Annual Council-wide overview of the MRC's research and training portfolio. The aim of this is to enable the Council, with input from Directors and others, to identify key emerging issues and opportunities which may have a bearing on current and future investments, and to monitor delivery against corporate objectives. Such reviews help develop scientific direction and strategy across the MRC, and identify areas that require a subsequent more in-depth strategic consideration.

ad hoc

— Scientific review of each Unit. This is the regular independent quinquennial review, focused mainly on the scientific merits of a Unit, but within any broader context provided by a portfolio or strategic review. The quinquennial review also assesses value for money, training and people management, knowledge transfer and science in society activities.

We believe that the arrangements for five-yearly review of the MRC's RCIs are consistent with the requirements of for such reviews as set out in paragraph 3.15 of the Quinquennial review of the Research Councils. Outcomes of reviews are published in the MRC's Annual Report.

The MRC considers intramural and extramural (mainly university) based proposals in competition with each other. In both cases, the main drivers for deciding whether an extramural or intramural research proposals should be funded are the same: scientific quality, importance and value for money. In the case of the intramural programme, additional factors are taken into account, such as added value, management, training, science in society and knowledge transfer capabilities, and performance.

The MRC actively manages its portfolio of Institutes and Units, closing and reconfiguring them as scientific and strategic needs dictate. In 1990, there were 51 Institutes and Units; there are now 32. Since January 2000, the MRC has closed 12 Units and opened or restructured seven others.

Q2. The balance between MRC expenditure on RCIs and on grant funding

Balance between extramural and intramural funding

This is determined according to current strategic needs and the quality of proposals for funding. The pattern may change from time to time, depending on which funding mechanisms are most appropriate for achieving current scientific priorities.

Resource funding of Institutes and Units

As explained above, the renewal of existing intramural support is determined in competition with requests for extramural research grants. A basic planning assumption is that, provided the track record and future proposals meet the required standard, Institutes and Units will be funded at 95% of the current resource baseline level of support. Another planning assumption is that £3 million will be saved (recycled) every two years through pruning lower quality science or closing whole Units. If the future proposals warrant additional support, any funding above 95% baseline is provided from the relevant budget in competition with other research funding proposals.

The MRC's Institutes and Units meet the organisation's strategic needs and hence the MRC funds the full economic costs of the intramural science it supports.

Capital funding of Institutes and Units

The objectives of the MRC's capital investment strategy are three-fold:

— to invest in advanced facilities and equipment to take forward emerging scientific developments and opportunities;

— to invest in buildings, plant and equipment to maintain the value of the estate and provide "well-found laboratories"; and

— to bring any sub-standard assets up to the required standard.

Although maintaining existing assets in good order is an underpinning objective, it is the Council's strategic scientific priorities, as laid out in the MRC's Delivery Plan, which guide major investment decisions. These priorities have been taken into account in determining the major planned programmes in the MRC's Capital Investment Strategy. In general, the MRC does not earmark funds in advance for particular topics in medical science, except for areas for which the MRC has received additional funding for specific programmes, and for major capital investment decisions, where provision is made to enable strategic investment decisions to be implemented.

When making capital funding decisions, the MRC focuses on areas of greatest scientific opportunity and issues of greatest importance to human health. Two current major capital projects are the new building for the world-renowned LMB and the renewal of NIMR at UCL. Such decisions also take account of the need to establish a critical mass of research in priority areas, to maintain a balanced research capacity across the full range of health issues, and to support innovation and new approaches. This policy allows MRC to respond flexibly as opportunities arise.

Future equipment requirements for each Unit and Institute, and the resulting maintenance and depreciation costs as well as the costs relating to land and buildings, are determined as part of the quinquennial review.

The MRC does not own all the buildings which accommodate Institutes and Units; in many cases these are leased or rented from the host university or medical school. The MRC's estates strategy is that decisions to acquire extend or dispose of accommodation, whether owned, leased or rented, should be "science-led". Consequently, while the relative cost of accommodation in different areas of the country and/or the opportunity costs in relation to other possible uses of the accommodation are given due consideration, these issues are secondary to scientific advantage.

Over the years, the Council has generally taken the view that the most scientifically rewarding locations for its intramural investment has been in close proximity to similar or complementary areas of scientific excellence and, where relevant, to clinical facilities. This has resulted in a clustering of Council activity around University campuses and Teaching Hospitals throughout the UK, but especially in Cambridge, London, Oxford and Edinburgh.

Q3. The rationale behind the different approaches adopted by the Research Councils to supporting RCIs and the case for greater harmonisation of practice

The Costigan Review concluded that the MRC's governance systems for its RCIs were compatible with best practice.

All MRC Institutes and Units are given a five-year funding commitment after the quinquennial review, and then receive an annual financial allocation from the Council. The latter includes any additional external (non-MRC income) attributable to the Institute or Unit. The three major institutes have greater delegated authority for decisions on the appointment of staff and management of resources between each quinquennial review. However, the governance arrangements are essentially the same: the Director is accountable to the Chief Executive for the day-to-day management of the scientific, training and other programmes with the Institute or Unit concerned, for compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements, and for the maintenance of appropriate systems. During the five-year period between each Unit or Institute Review, the Director has considerable autonomy regarding scientific leadership: the Director is held to account for his or her stewardship at the quinquennial review.

The Costigan Review suggested that consideration should be given to reviews of RCIs during each five-year period, to ensure that each RCI is on track to deliver against its objectives. The MRC believes that an appropriate balance should be struck between the need for the Council to assure itself that each RCI is making satisfactory progress, and the broader academic environment within which RCI staff operate. The MRC will be taking steps to improve the level of annual accountability, without stifling the development of innovative ideas which is such a positive feature of RCIs, and which is crucial in attracting the best scientists to work in RCIs. Much of the increased accountability can be achieved by giving Directors more effective local management support and improving shared management information systems.

Finally, the Costigan Review questioned the arrangement whereby over 30 Directors reported directly to the CEO. Such a wide span of control may be unusual but the MRC does not believe this makes the assurance and appraisal system unworkable. The combination of quinquennial settlements and reporting lines which converge formally only at the CEO level might give the impression that RCIs are able to act in isolation over the five years between reviews. In practice, this is far from the case. There are many active networks within the MRC, not only of scientific directors and senior scientists, but also of senior operational staff, including unit administrators and professional human resources and finance staff. Change is continuously being brought about and corporate initiatives implemented via these networks. More formalised appraisal systems for Directors will be finalised in the autumn.

Within the standard governance framework, the MRC operates tailored administrative arrangements depending on the size and location of the Institute or Unit concerned. For instance, small Units deeply embedded within Host Universities depend on many local services and systems. Others are more self-sufficient.

The MRC has recognised that there are efficiencies and improvements to be gained by providing some RCI services centrally through a Shared Service Centre, eg human resources, finance and procurement. The new MRC Shared Service Centre opened for business in Swindon in April this year. The Research Councils are in discussion through RCUK about adopting a wider, cross-Council approach to the provision of such services.

MRC Institutes and Units include Senior Unit Administrators, whose role is to ensure effective management of the administration of their Institute or Unit, and in some cases others in their region.

Q6. Review progress on reorganisation of NIMR

The Committee last received an update in late 2004, as part of its inquiry The MRC's Review of the Future of the National Institute for Medical Research, the report of which was published in February 2005.

The Committee will recall that, following a review by the Council in November 2002, a subcommittee was established to develop a long-term strategy for major capital investments over a 10-15 year period at a number of MRC sites, including NIMR's current location at Mill Hill. In 2003 a Task Force was established by MRC to review the future of NIMR. Membership was drawn from the MRC and NIMR and with national and international experts. The role of the Task Force was to develop a vision for a strong scientific future for NIMR and to consider and consult on a broader set of options for the size and location for NIMR than originally examined by the Council sub-committee. In October 2004, the Council accepted the recommendation of the Task Force that NIMR should be renewed as a multi-disciplinary biomedical research institute with a mission to undertake basic and translational research in partnership and co-located with a university.

PROGRESS SINCE THE LAST SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT

Having reviewed proposals, Council selected UCL as its preferred partner for the renewal and relocation of NIMR to Central London, in close proximity to a major hospital and relevant university departments including chemistry and physics.

A Business Plan for the renewal of NIMR was approved by Council in July last year. The business plan confirmed the feasibility of developing the renewed institute on the National Temperance Hospital (NTH) site in Hampstead Road. It estimated a total capital investment of £320 million with a net cost to the MRC of £240 million after account was taken of the contribution from UCL and the proceeds from the sale of the Mill Hill site.

It gave the Council the comfort necessary to proceed with the purchase of the NTH site and to commit £100 million of its own resources to the capital spend. It also provided the basis of an application for £140 million of funding from the Office of Science and Innovation's Large Facilities Capital Fund and to engagement with other potential funders. The application to the LFCF has been well received but funding cannot be released until a more detailed business case has been worked up that allows OSI and Treasury to assess the strength of the case for the capital investment.

Council is therefore now preparing this more detailed business plan with an options appraisal setting out what could be achieved on the NTH site with a range of different levels of investment so that OSI and the Treasury can test whether the case for the MRC's preferred option is robust. This will include consideration of what improved efficiencies can be delivered through joint working with UCL and alternative ways of delivering services and infrastructure.

The NIMR project is overseen by a subcommittee of the Council and Project Board. In March 2006, the MRC engaged external management consultants to assist in the development of a Business Case up to OGC Gateway 1. A programme of work identifying what has to be achieved has been established: overall the project is running to plan. A communications strategy has been approved by the Project Board and is currently in the early stages of implementation. A design team has been appointed to advise on the implications of the different options. The final business case will be submitted to the MRC Council and to OSI in October.

In the meantime, a search committee has been set up to identify a new Director for NIMR, to take over from Sir John Skehel, who retires in September this year.

Current MRC Institutes and Units

Type	Name and further details	Town	URL
MRC Institute	MRC LABORATORY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (LMB)	Cambridge	www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk
MRC Institute	MRC CLINICAL SCIENCES CENTRE (CSC)	London	www.csc.mrc.ac.uk
MRC Institute	MRC NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH (NIMR) INCLUDING THE MRC BIOMEDICAL NMR CENTRE	London	www.nimr.mrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH COLLABORATION	Bristol	www.hsrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC BIOSTATISTICS UNIT	Cambridge	www.mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk
Unit	MRC CANCER CELL UNIT	Cambridge	www.hutchison-mrc.cam.ac.uk
Unit	MRC CENTRE FOR PROTEIN ENGINEERING	Cambridge	www.mrc-cpe.cam.ac.uk
Unit	MRC COGNITION AND BRAIN SCIENCES UNIT	Cambridge	www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
Unit	MRC COLLABORATIVE CENTRE FOR HUMAN NUTRITION RESEARCH	Cambridge	www.mrc-hnr.cam.ac.uk
Unit	MRC DUNN HUMAN NUTRITION UNIT	Cambridge	www.mrc-dunn.cam.ac.uk
Unit	MRC EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIT	Cambridge	www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk
Unit	MRC PROTEIN PHOSPHORYLATION UNIT	Dundee	www.dundee.ac.uk/lifesciences/mrcppu
Unit	MRC HUMAN GENETICS UNIT	Edinburgh	www.hgu.mrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCES UNIT	Edinburgh	www.hrsu.mrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC/UVRI UGANDA RESEARCH UNIT ON AIDS	Entebbe
Unit	MRC LABORATORIES, THE GAMBIA	Fajara	www.mrc.gm
Unit	MRC SOCIAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCES UNIT	Glasgow	www.msoc-mrc.gla.ac.uk
Unit	MRC VIROLOGY UNIT	Glasgow	www.mrcvu.gla.ac.uk
Unit	MRC MAMMALIAN GENETICS UNIT INCLUDING MRC UK MOUSE GENOME CENTRE	Harwell	www.mgu.har.mrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC RADIATION AND GENOME STABILITY UNIT	Harwell	www.ragsu.har.mrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC TOXICOLOGY UNIT	Leicester	www.le.ac.uk/mrctox
Unit	MRC CELL BIOLOGY UNIT	London	www.ucl.ac.uk/lmcb
Unit	MRC CLINICAL TRIALS UNIT	London	www.ctu.mrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC PRION UNIT	London	www.prion.ucl.ac.uk
Unit	MRC INSTITUTE OF HEARING RESEARCH—(INCLUDING GROUPS BASED AT GLASGOW, NOTTINGHAM CLINICAL SECTION AND SOUTHAMPTON)	Nottingham	www.ihr.mrc.ac.uk
Unit	MRC ANATOMICAL NEUROPHARMACOLOGY UNIT	Oxford	mrcanu.pharm.ox.ac.uk
Unit	MRC FUNCTIONAL GENETICS UNIT	Oxford	www.mrcfgu.ox.ac.uk
Unit	MRC HUMAN IMMUNOLOGY UNIT	Oxford	www.imm.ox.ac.uk/groups/mrc-hiu/pages/home.htm
Unit	MRC IMMUNOCHEMISTRY UNIT	Oxford	www2.bioch.ox.ac.uk/immunoch
Unit	MRC MOLECULAR HAEMATOLOGY UNIT	Oxford	www.imm.ox.ac.uk/groups/mrc_molhaem
Unit	MRC/CANCER RESEARCH UK/BHF CLINICAL TRIAL SERVICE UNIT & EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES UNIT (CTSU)	Oxford	www.ctsu.ox.ac.uk
Unit	MRC EPIDEMIOLOGY RESOURCE CENTRE	Southampton	www.mrc.soton.ac.uk

MRC INSTITUTE FUNDING

BALANCE BETWEEN RC EXPENDITURE ON RCIs AND GRANT FUNDING

2004-05 audited financial data.

Total portfolio (resource & capital)

Expenditure (£m)

Total expenditure 476.3

Total expenditure at HEIs 181.0

Total expenditure at RCIs (excluding CCLRC) 253.2

Total expenditure with CCLRC and other organisations

Other 42.1

The "RCI" costs cover all the MRC's Institutes and Units nearly all of which are "embedded" in HEIs. The figures for the MRC's RCIs include capital expenditure (£28.4 million) and non-cash expenditure (£22.6 million) and cover the full economic costs of RCI (intramural) research. In contrast, funding for extramural grants to HEIs was not on a full economic cost basis in 2004-05, as grants at that stage were awarded under the old dual support system. Expenditure cannot therefore be used as a straightforward metric for comparing the volume of research that the MRC supports in RCIs and HEIs.

Expenditure on research (resource not capital)

Expenditure (£m)

Total expenditure 355.4

Total expenditure at HEIs 138.0

Total expenditure at RCIs (excluding CCLRC) 217.4

Total expenditure with CCLRC and other organisations

The figure for RCIs includes £22.6 million non-cash expenditure.

Expenditure on training

Expenditure (£m)

Total expenditure 50.4

Total expenditure at HEIs 43.0

Total expenditure at RCIs (excluding CCLRC) 7.4

Total expenditure with CCLRC and other organisations

Over 200 Career Development Fellows receive research training and career development in MRC Units. However, these costs of these posts are classified as research costs and are not included under training.

Individual RCI funding

  The MRC has 32 Institutes and Units. Funding from all sources, for all RCIs together, was as follows:

Funding (£m)

Total RCI funding 222.6

Of which:

  Total DEL-funded 192.6

  Total non-DEL-funded 30.0

  Of which:

    Total non-OSI Government-funded 8.6

    Total industry funding 1.7

    Total charity funding 5.1

    Other funding sources 14.6

Detailed breakdowns for the funding of each of the MRC's 32 RCIs could be provided if the Committee wishes.



© Parliamentary copyright 2007	Prepared 22 March 2007