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In ‘The Quiet Achiever’ we met someone who has made an extraordinary contribution to Australian health in a career spanning over six decades. Professor Emeritus Lloyd Sansom AO started his career as a pharmacist, going on to become Professor of Pharmacy as well as Head of the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at the University of South Australia.

In 2002 he was awarded an AO and in 2004 his contribution to the University was recognised with the naming of the Sansom Institute for Health Research. He was also Chair of the Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council from 1991-2000 and Chair for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee from 2001-2012. Recently Lloyd retired as a member of Bellberry’s Board and in this episode he gives us insight into his life, work and lessons learnt.

The Founding Chair of Bellberry’s Board of Directors, Fraser Bell, has paid tribute to retiring Board member Professor Emeritus Lloyd Sansom AO for his 12 years on the Board.

“Once in a while a Board gets to work with a person of enormous integrity, wisdom, humility, humour and a capacity to roll up his sleeves and get things done,” said Mr Bell.

“Bellberry has had just that opportunity with Lloyd Sansom. Our company made huge strides forward due to Lloyd’s vision with our Thought Leadership Program in particular.

“While that is the obvious legacy, each of his fellow Board members and the executive team are better off for having shared the journey with Lloyd,” said Mr Bell.

Professor Sansom was Professor of Pharmacy as well as Head of the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at the University of South Australia. In 2004 his contribution to the University was recognised with the naming of the Sansom Institute for Health Research.

He was also the Chair of the Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council from 1991-2000 and Chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee from 2001 to 2012.

Professor Sansom said it’s been a privilege to watch Bellberry grow over the last 12 years.

“Bellberry is a company that provides a high-quality service, but it does more than that. It is contributing to the advancement of the discipline of clinical trial research in this country and beyond,” said Professor Sansom.

Professor Andrew Wilson AO, who has recently retired as chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee will be joining the Bellberry Board.

Board Chair Fraser Bell has welcomed Professor Wilson’ appointment, “Andrew’s expertise and insights are well known to us and we are looking forward to working with him”.

Bellberry is Australia’s largest reviewer of human research reviewing more than 40% of CTN Clinical Trials in Australia. It’s a national, independent, not-for-profit organsiation focused on improving the welfare of human research participants and the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of medical research through its HREC reviews and philanthropic activities.

For media queries contact alisonrogers@bellberry.com.au or call 0488 995 868

International investment strong in Australian early phase trials

Overseas companies invest in two-thirds of all Australian clinical trials reviewed by Australia’s largest reviewer of human research, Bellberry, according to its Clinical Trial Activity Report (CTAR).

Bellberry reviews more than 40% of CTN (Clinical Trial Notification) trials in Australia and each year releases its CTAR on International Clinical Trials Day (20 May).

The data for the 2023 calendar year found that early phase clinical trials (first in human or Phase 1) involved investment from overseas companies (sponsors) with the top countries being the US, China, South Korea, the UK and Switzerland.

Bellberry’s CEO, Kylie Sproston, says the recent data shows that Australia is uniquely placed to attract significant global investment in clinical trials activity due to the high quality of its healthcare institutions and researchers.

“Continuing previous trends, Australia is a lead destination globally for First in Human and Phase 1 trials, with strong interest from overseas sponsors in the Australian clinical trial ecosystem,” said Ms Sproston.

“Less well recognised is the depth in Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials, totalling 28% of the portfolio.  Collectively, Australia can be a key partner for end-to-end delivery of clinical development of new health innovations.

“Other countries investing strongly in Australian clinical trials are France, Sweden, Taiwan, Germany and Canada. The data shows that we are a highly desirable destination for this skilled and complex work.”

Of the clinical trials reviewed by Bellberry in 2023, private sites conducted 89% of the research with 11% by public sites.

“This reflects the breadth and vibrancy of the privately based research sector including phase one units, hospitals, medical centres and research institutes,” said Ms Sproston.

More than a quarter of the clinical trials undertaken in 2023 were in oncology (27%) with other key areas of research including infectious diseases, neurology, dermatology, haematology, devices and social science (each within 5-10% of the total).

Download the 2023 Clinical Trial Activity Report

Bellberry is a national, not-for-profit organisation that provides streamlined scientific and ethical reviews of human research projects across Australia.  Its focus is on improving the welfare of human research participants and the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of medical research through its HREC reviews and philanthropic activities.

For media queries please contact alisonrogers@bellberry.com.au or on 0488 995 868.

Opportunities are currently available to join our ever growing HREC review panels. Please refer to the article below for further information and contact Cathy Stevens if you are interested.

Bellberry Limited, Australia’s largest reviewer of human research is celebrating its 20th year of operations. The company is an independent not-for-profit organisation providing research ethics services across Australia.

Bellberry is driven by two key objectives, to protect the welfare of research participants and to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of research. It provides high-quality, time efficient and internationally accredited scientific and ethical review of research projects.

Bellberry provides specialist ethical oversight to almost 40% of clinical trials registered to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which is the Australian equivalent of the FDA in the US or the EMA in Europe.

Starting with one Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) in 2004, 20 years later Bellberry has 12 HRECs operating with 150 members undertaking reviews across all phases of clinical and device trials as well as social and behavioural studies.

Bellberry is at the forefront of global drug development, and is the first organisation in Australia to achieve international accreditation for excellence and ethically sound processes in running HRECs by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP).

Bellberry reinvests all its surplus funds back into the Australian medical research sector.

Bellberry’s Director of Operations, Jerneen Williams, and Director of Strategic Projects, Trina O’Donnell, will be attending BIO Korea.

For media inquiries please contact Alison Rogers alisonrogers@bellberry.com.au

Bellberry is pleased once again to offer our grant program to support participant engagement at scientific meetings. 

Conference organisers can apply to Bellberry for funding to create or enhance participant-centric programs to enable the participant voice to be represented and heard at their meetings. The ultimate aim of this grant funding program is to improve research by embracing participant perspectives. 

Applicants can apply for a grant up to a maximum of $20,000 – applications for 2024 close on 15 March 2024. 

Visit the link here for the Program guidelines and Application form

In June 2023, Bellberry gathered experts together from across the globe in Adelaide, South Australia, to examine how to achieve better outcomes for patients when it comes to accelerated access to potentially beneficial medicines.

Tune into Bellberry’s latest podcast episode, ‘Tackling A Wicked Problem’, to hear firsthand from some of the attendees of this International Scientific Congress.

Click on the link below or search for ‘Bellberry’ in your favourite podcast platform.

In June 2023 Bellberry were delighted to host the “Towards a Coordinated Approach for Managing Accelerated Patient Access to Potentially Beneficial Medicines: Balancing Patient, Regulator, Health Technology Assessment (HTA), Payer, and Other Stakeholder Needs” international workshop in Adelaide.

This event brought together over a global delegation from over 20 nations including the US, UK, Europe, Canada, Singapore, and Japan from a range of stakeholder groups to discuss the issue of a gap in funded access to potentially beneficial medicines where there has been accelerated regulatory approval.  All aspects of the workshop programme were overseen by a Scientific Committee and were chaired by E/Prof Lloyd Sansom.

The workshop was followed by a one-day open day meeting where the deliberations and conclusions of the expert panel presented and debated amongst a wider local audience.  The workshop outcome was the development of an agreed statement of good practice, guidelines on approaches and a clear agreement on required next steps.

The full report from the workshop can now be viewed here, key themes from the report were integrated into a meeting statement that can be viewed here.

2024 promises to be an exciting year at Bellberry as we celebrate our 20 year anniversary. Please visit our Anniversary homepage for details of some of the exciting activities and initiatives planned to mark this special milestone, including our monthly podcast series.

Business will of course be as usual with HREC meetings being held every Wednesday throughout the year.

Please contact us at bellberry@bellberry.com.au if you have any submission queries or for any other general queries.

HREC meetings are held every Wednesday for the duration of 2024

The Quality Update for December can be found here.

Content includes updates to some of our Bellberry Application (BA) and Monitoring of Approved Research (MAR) documentation, electronic HREC indemnity reminders, regulatory updates and more.

Please contact the Quality team at quality@bellberry.com.au if you have any queries regarding these updates.

To tune into episode 3, ‘Chasing The Money’, click on the link below or search for Bellberry wherever you get your podcasts.

Happy listening! More episodes to come in early 2024.

HREC meetings are held every Wednesday for the duration of 2024