The Industry Costing Template

The Industry Costing Template has been developed on behalf of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and addresses a specific recommendation made in the Cooksey Report, which highlighted the need for a transparent and consistent national costing system for commercial research.

The Industry Costing Template has been implemented to speed up the initiation of industry contract trials by reducing the time required for site-by-site negotiations. It is based on the principles articulated in the NHS Finance Manual and is intended to provide transparency, greater consistency and predictability on costing for companies.

This version has been developed for use in contract trials of pharmaceutical and biotechnology agents in secondary care. Templates suitable for use in primary care studies and in studies of medical devices are being developed. This Template is not suitable for use in costing non-commercial/academic trials however this need is being addressed by NIHR CRN.

The Industry Costing Template will be used for all relevant studies intended for adoption by the NIHR Clinical Research Networks (England). Although developed primarily to support these studies, the methodology is freely available to companies interested in running trials outside the Networks. NIHR CRN is working with the devolved nations to facilitate development of comparable systems for implementation across the UK.

The Template has been developed and piloted in a collaborative process involving the NHS and industry stakeholders. It will be reviewed and updated, as required, in the light of broader experience.

A new version of the Industry Costing Template, Version 1.3, was launched on 20 April 2009.

This version updates several key elements of the Template:

• Staff Rates for 2009/10
• Payment by Results Market Forces Factors for 2009/10
• Uplifts to Investigation Pricing Index
• Inclusion of more qualitative procedures
• Numerous formatting and functionality changes.

Version 1.3 replaces all older versions of the Industry Costing Template and a pop up has been included to clearly highlight the version in use. Subsequent to the launch of Version 1.3, the acceptance of any costs calculated using older versions of the Industry Costing Template will be at the discretion of the Trust. Older versions of the Industry Costing Template will not be valid for use in new studies.

Following the release of Version 1.3, the NIHR CRN Coordinating Centre Industry Team recommends that all ongoing cost negotiations using older versions (i.e., initiated prior to the release of 1.3) should continue without updating to Version 1.3.  All new studies put forward for adoption by NIHR CRN should use Version 1.3 of the Industry Costing Template.

** Please note: The Industry Costing Template may not function correctly on computers using MicroSoft Excel 2000 or earlier versions. Please use a later version of MS Excel to enable the correct functionality and calculations within the Template. **

Last updated: 30 June 2009