Bradford pharmacist who worked on Covid-19 trials honoured

Dr Mahendra Patel OBE, a leading Bradford pharmacist and research pioneer in health inequalities, was part of a team that worked on UK-wide clinical studies during and after the pandemic. 

The trials - launched in the midst of lockdowns, loss, and the race to find a vaccine - were known as PRINCIPLE and PANORAMIC.

Dr Patel took on a role within these teams as the National Black, Asian and minority ethnic Community and Pharmacy Lead.

Now, Dr Patel and his colleagues in the trials have been honoured with the Prix Galien Best Public Sector Innovation Award.

Dr Mahendra Patel OBE, pictured (Image: UGC)

Regarded as the highest accolade for biomedical research and development, the Prix Galien has been described as industry’s equivalent of a Nobel Prize.

Dr Patel, whose parents were one of the first families from Gujarati, India, to settle in Bradford in the 1950s, described the award as a “lifetime memory to treasure”.

He grew up in Little Horton before embarking on a pharmaceutical career across the world. 

Dr Mahendra Patel OBE, seen far right, pictured with fellow representatives of the PANORAMIC and PRINCIPLE trials (Image: UGC)

The award-winning professor is a founding member of the historic Centre for Research Equity at the University of Oxford.

At a time when South Asian, Black and other minority groups were deemed to be more at risk of the virus, Dr Patel took on what he then described as a “crusade against coronavirus”.

He called for a concerted effort to reach out to Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities more effectively in health research.

The trials looked at both the development of effective antiviral treatments for Covid-19 and whether early treatment would help people recover quickly without the need for hospital admission.

All drugs tested in PRINCIPLE were commonly used to treat other illnesses and led to a number of findings.

It found two types of antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory drug were not suitable for treating Covid-19.

In April 2021, the PRINCIPLE team showed that the commonly used asthma drug and steroid, inhaled budesonide, was effective in reducing recovery time by around three days.

It could also have a role in reducing hospital admission, the trial found.

Dr Patel, pictured, is a University of Bradford honorary graduate and Honorary Visiting Lecturer

Meanwhile the PANORAMIC trial focuses on a range of potentially ground-breaking oral antiviral drugs, which can be taken at home by at-risk patients in the early stages of Covid-19.

Dr Patel told the T&A: “What a moment of recognition and appreciation of all the work by people behind and in front of the scenes and across the four nations — that has now become a lifetime memory for me to treasure.

“I am immensely delighted and proud beyond words to have contributed wherever I could through my role in both the trials — capturing the importance of inclusion and diversity to trial participation, to ensure the evidence gathered is safe and effective for all populations to benefit from, and not just a select few.”