Innovative mechanisms have been established to accelerate the discovery and assessment of new medical interventions for poverty-related diseases, including major international public–private partnerships. EDCTP has made an important contribution to this landscape, in collaboration with its public and private strategic partners, boosting the conduct of clinical trials in infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.
EDCTP’s strategic collaboration with pharmaceutical industry partners
Read the article
on EDCTP’s sustained response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics (FIND) is already an important partner on several projects, with its unrivalled global expertise in diagnostic development and in navigating pathways to regulatory approval and implementation. For example, the Profile-Cov project is working with FIND to identify the most suitable antigen and antibody tests being evaluated globally for validation in an African setting.
Private-sector beneficiaries also make important in-kind contributions to the projects in which they participate, as do other biotechnology companies synergising with EDCTP projects:
The industry partners involved are small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME). Three of the diagnostics projects involve two SME beneficiaries, the Swedish company TATAA Biocenter and the Belgian Coris BioConcept:
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on multi-sector response to global health challenges
We asked our interviewees - Prof Marcel Tanner, Dr Jutta Reinhard-Rupp and Dr Lutz Hegemann - to reflect on how the COVID-19 pandemic has informed the way organisations such as EDCTP collaborate with industry partners. A conclusion that was commonly shared among them, is how the pandemic accelerated and improved collaboration between all sectors involved. This is something EDCTP has also seen reflected in the grants awarded from its COVID-19 Emergency response call in 2020, which have spurred new landmark partnerships for clinical research and notably high engagement from pharmaceutical industry:
“Most projects seek to address more than one thematic area and involve many different countries across sub-Saharan Africa. However, diagnostics and testing emerged as the area addressed by over half (61%) of the projects. They are assessing novel approaches for detecting current SARS-CoV-2 infections (molecular or antigen tests) or a history of infection (antibody tests). It is also in this area that the pharmaceutical industry and product development partnerships (PDPs) are primarily engaging in EDCTP-funded COVID-19 projects. COVID-19 has reinforced the need for a multi-sector response to global health challenges. The pandemic necessitates the collaboration of a broad set of public and private stakeholders, with the pharmaceutical industry and PDPs as indispensable partners. It is gratifying to see these partners involved in several of EDCTP’s COVID-19 grants, combining public and private capabilities, innovation, and expertise in the clinical development of treatments and diagnostic tools, which are critical to limiting the spread of the disease.”
From: “EDCTP sustainable response to COVID-19”(eMagazine December 2020)
We asked Dr Lutz Hegemann, President of Global Health & Sustainability at Novartis, how Novartis has contributed towards EDCTP-funded activities, and how we accelerate innovation while making sure that these innovations are accessible to the populations that need them the most.
Interview:
Dr Lutz Hegemann
EDCTP is proud to have established valuable strategic partnerships with industry partners through the EDCTP2 programme and they have proven to be essential partners in EDCTP-supported product–focused research, identifying research gaps and niches and helping to shape EDCTP’s investment strategy. EDCTP2’s successor programme, Global Health EDCTP3, will continue to broker productive and sustainable partnerships – promoting networking and building relationships with multiple private- and public-sector organisations. It will also consolidate EDCTP’s investment in late-stage product development, using more flexible and long-term approaches to establish strategic alliances with product developers, including both small- and medium-sized enterprises, large pharmaceutical companies, and product development partnerships. To this end, we look forward to increased interaction with and engagement of existing and new strategic partners in Global Health EDCTP3, with the aim to achieve synergies and even greater impact on product development in the global health field.
We asked Dr Jutta Reinhard-Rupp, former EDCTP Scientific Advisory Committee member and Head of the Global Health Institute at Merck, how funders and industry can work together to define research priorities and ensure sustainability of the development process.
Interview:
Dr Jutta Reinhard-Rupp
EDCTP’s collaboration with industry partners on joint initiatives has so far been largely focused on improving research capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily through provision of fellowships. GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis have been major partners in this respect, supporting multiple calls for proposals on Senior Fellowships and Capacity Development Fellowships, one of which as a joint initiative with Fondation Botnar. These funding partnerships have shown great value in bridging specific research gaps, with the funding priorities of both partners enabling EDCTP to support the career paths of researchers working with vulnerable populations such as on maternal, child and adolescent health and in niche areas such as co-morbidities between poverty-related diseases (PRDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Industry partners have also provided in-kind contributions to EDCTP2 through the EDCTP-WHO/TDR joint calls on Clinical Research and Product Development Fellowships which were regularly launched in 2014-2019. GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR), Novartis Pharma AG, Merck KGaA and Pfizer have all participated as host institutions offering placements for successful fellows to obtain first-hand experience on different aspects of product development.
We asked Professor Marcel Tanner, president of the Swiss Academy of Sciences and EDCTP High Representative for Europe, to describe EDCTP’s strategy on industry involvement in global health product development and to provide his views on opportunities for increased engagement in the future.
Interview:
Prof. Marcel Tanner
84% of EDCTP2 investments are in research and development, with the majority of these studies involving industry partners. It has been encouraging to see pharmaceutical industry partners evolve as key contributors to EDCTP by partnering in strategy, participating in funded consortia and providing co-funding. For example, they make important contributions to international collaborative clinical research projects funded by EDCTP under its so-called strategic calls for proposals. These projects must have enough scale and ambition to justify support from other funders. Ideally, at least half the cost of the large-scale programme of activities should be supported by funders other than EDCTP. To date, an additional €373.95 million
from public and private global partners has been leveraged through these EDCTP2 strategic projects, to which pharmaceutical industry partners contributed approximately €41.48 million (11%). A further €26.14 million from public and private global partners has been leveraged through other EDCTP2 projects, to which pharmaceutical industry partners contributed approximately €11.32 million (43%). Moreover, EDCTP has engaged with strategic partners on joint and coordinated calls, through which an additional €26.84 million has been leveraged, to which pharmaceutical industry partners contributed approximately €4.77 million (18%).
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One of the five specific objectives of the second EDCTP programme (EDCTP2) focuses on external partnerships, with the aim to work with a broad range of public and private partners to maximise the impact of research, to attract additional investment, and to fully exploit the opportunities for high-quality clinical research offered by EDCTP’s integrated approach. The EDCTP financing model combines funding from its European and African Participating States, the European Union, as well as global public and private partners, for supporting clinical research and capacity
development in sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, EDCTP2 has been successful in not only attracting the participation of private sector organisations as grantees in EDCTP projects, expert reviewers of call applications and members of the EDCTP Scientific Advisory Committee, but also in fostering productive relationships that have resulted in their engagement as strategic partners and co-investors of EDCTP activities. Currently, there are 346 participations of 132 unique private sector entities receiving in total EUR 177.38 million in EDCTP grant value.
Control of infectious diseases requires effective interventions for prevention, detection, and treatment. However, the development and clinical evaluation of new medical interventions is expensive and there is limited economic incentive for commercial organisations to invest in research & development for infections predominantly affecting low- and middle-income countries. Nevertheless, innovative mechanisms have been established to accelerate the discovery and assessment of new medical interventions for poverty-related diseases, including major international public–private partnerships. EDCTP has made an important contribution to this landscape, in collaboration with its public and private strategic partners, boosting the conduct of clinical trials in infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.
scroll down
Innovative mechanisms have been established to accelerate the discovery and assessment of new medical interventions for poverty-related diseases, including major international public–private partnerships. EDCTP has made an important contribution to this landscape, in collaboration with its public and private strategic partners, boosting the conduct of clinical trials in infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.
EDCTP’s strategic collaboration with pharmaceutical industry partners
- The Dutch SME Delft Diagnostic Imaging, involved in the EDCTP-funded TREATS project, offers free-of-charge its Artificial Intelligence diagnostic software, CAD4COVID, to help triage COVID-19 cases in the TREATS-COVID project. This project takes advantage of the TREATS study to rapidly gain a better picture of COVID-19 transmission in an urban setting in Zambia.
- The Chinese company Nanjing BioPoint Diagnostics provides in-kind support through reduced pricing of Dried Plasma Spots for the COREP project that studies transmission in rural settings at two health and demographic surveillance sites in Kenya and South Africa.
- German companies Midge Medical and Tib MolBiol will contribute lab supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) and real-time RT-PCR kits to the Suitcaselab project that is evaluating an innovative ‘laboratory-in-a-suitcase’ for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections
- The AfriDx project is adapting an innovative molecular testing platform, known as PATHPOD, that is accurate, easy to use at a point of care, and gives results within an hour. It is also developing novel ‘dipstick’ tests for detecting different types of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. To promote sustainability, TATAA Biocenter is leading the project team’s efforts to establish manufacturing capacity for the tests in the region.
- The COVADIS project is evaluating both antigen and antibody tests, including a novel rapid point-of-care antigen test COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip™ developed by Coris BioConcept. The project will also establish a platform that will enable antibody responses to be assessed using convenient dried finger-prick blood samples.
- The ITAILCOVID-19 project is assessing a range of antigen and antibody tests, including the rapid antigen diagnostic test COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip™ developed by Coris BioConcept, and will build testing capacity in the Republic of Congo. An additional strand of the project will focus on health care workers, who are at significant risk of infection.
Additionally, Swedish SME Mabtech is developing antibody and fluorospot assays to be used in the ImmunoCov project, which is undertaking a detailed analysis of both antibody and T-cell mediated responses to SARS-Cov-2 infection, and validating a range of tests for possible further investigation in African populations.
Private-sector beneficiaries also make important in-kind contributions to the projects in which they participate, as do other biotechnology companies synergising with EDCTP projects:
Read the article
on EDCTP’s sustained response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The Foundation for Innovative Diagnostics (FIND) is already an important partner on several projects, with its unrivalled global expertise in diagnostic development and in navigating pathways to regulatory approval and implementation. For example, the Profile-Cov project is working with FIND to identify the most suitable antigen and antibody tests being evaluated globally for validation in an African setting.
The industry partners involved are small- to medium-sized enterprises (SME). Three of the diagnostics projects involve two SME beneficiaries, the Swedish company TATAA Biocenter and the Belgian Coris BioConcept:
EDCTP is proud to have established valuable strategic partnerships with industry partners through the EDCTP2 programme and they have proven to be essential partners in EDCTP-supported product–focused research, identifying research gaps and niches and helping to shape EDCTP’s investment strategy. EDCTP2’s successor programme, Global Health EDCTP3, will continue to broker productive and sustainable partnerships – promoting networking and building relationships with multiple private- and public-sector organisations. It will also consolidate EDCTP’s investment in late-stage product development, using more flexible and long-term approaches to establish strategic alliances with product developers, including both small- and medium-sized enterprises, large pharmaceutical companies, and product development partnerships. To this end, we look forward to increased interaction with and engagement of existing and new strategic partners in Global Health EDCTP3, with the aim to achieve synergies and even greater impact on product development in the global health field.
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on multi-sector response to global health challenges
We asked our interviewees - Prof Marcel Tanner, Dr Jutta Reinhard-Rupp and Dr Lutz Hegemann - to reflect on how the COVID-19 pandemic has informed the way organisations such as EDCTP collaborate with industry partners. A conclusion that was commonly shared among them, is how the pandemic accelerated and improved collaboration between all sectors involved. This is something EDCTP has also seen reflected in the grants awarded from its COVID-19 Emergency response call in 2020, which have spurred new landmark partnerships for clinical research and notably high engagement from pharmaceutical industry:
“Most projects seek to address more than one thematic area and involve many different countries across sub-Saharan Africa. However, diagnostics and testing emerged as the area addressed by over half (61%) of the projects. They are assessing novel approaches for detecting current SARS-CoV-2 infections (molecular or antigen tests) or a history of infection (antibody tests). It is also in this area that the pharmaceutical industry and product development partnerships (PDPs) are primarily engaging in EDCTP-funded COVID-19 projects. COVID-19 has reinforced the need for a multi-sector response to global health challenges. The pandemic necessitates the collaboration of a broad set of public and private stakeholders, with the pharmaceutical industry and PDPs as indispensable partners. It is gratifying to see these partners involved in several of EDCTP’s COVID-19 grants, combining public and private capabilities, innovation, and expertise in the clinical development of treatments and diagnostic tools, which are critical to limiting the spread of the disease.”
From: “EDCTP sustainable response to COVID-19”(eMagazine December 2020)
Interview:
Dr Lutz Hegemann
We asked Dr Lutz Hegemann, President of Global Health & Sustainability at Novartis, how Novartis has contributed towards EDCTP-funded activities, and how we accelerate innovation while making sure that these innovations are accessible to the populations that need them the most.
We asked Dr Jutta Reinhard-Rupp, former EDCTP Scientific Advisory Committee member and Head of the Global Health Institute at Merck, how funders and industry can work together to define research priorities and ensure sustainability of the development process.
EDCTP’s collaboration with industry partners on joint initiatives has so far been largely focused on improving research capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily through provision of fellowships. GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis have been major partners in this respect, supporting multiple calls for proposals on Senior Fellowships and Capacity Development Fellowships, one of which as a joint initiative with Fondation Botnar. These funding partnerships have shown great value in bridging specific research gaps, with the funding priorities of both partners enabling EDCTP to support the career paths of researchers working with vulnerable populations such as on maternal, child and adolescent health and in niche areas such as co-morbidities between poverty-related diseases (PRDs) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Industry partners have also provided in-kind contributions to EDCTP2 through the EDCTP-WHO/TDR joint calls on Clinical Research and Product Development Fellowships which were regularly launched in 2014-2019. GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR), Novartis Pharma AG, Merck KGaA and Pfizer have all participated as host institutions offering placements for successful fellows to obtain first-hand experience on different aspects of product development.
84% of EDCTP2 investments are in research and development, with the majority of these studies involving industry partners. It has been encouraging to see pharmaceutical industry partners evolve as key contributors to EDCTP by partnering in strategy, participating in funded consortia and providing co-funding. For example, they make important contributions to international collaborative clinical research projects funded by EDCTP under its so-called strategic calls for proposals. These projects must have enough scale and ambition to justify support from other funders. Ideally, at least half the cost of the large-scale programme of activities should be supported by funders other than EDCTP. To date, an additional €373.95 million
We asked Professor Marcel Tanner, president of the Swiss Academy of Sciences and EDCTP High Representative for Europe, to describe EDCTP’s strategy on industry involvement in global health product development and to provide his views on opportunities for increased engagement in the future.
Interview:
Prof. Marcel Tanner
One of the five specific objectives of the second EDCTP programme (EDCTP2) focuses on external partnerships, with the aim to work with a broad range of public and private partners to maximise the impact of research, to attract additional investment, and to fully exploit the opportunities for high-quality clinical research offered by EDCTP’s integrated approach. The EDCTP financing model combines funding from its European and African Participating States, the European Union, as well as global public and private partners, for supporting clinical research and capacity
development in sub-Saharan Africa. To this end, EDCTP2 has been successful in not only attracting the participation of private sector organisations as grantees in EDCTP projects, expert reviewers of call applications and members of the EDCTP Scientific Advisory Committee, but also in fostering productive relationships that have resulted in their engagement as strategic partners and co-investors of EDCTP activities. Currently, there are 346 participations of 132 unique private sector entities receiving in total EUR 177.38 million in EDCTP grant value.
Control of infectious diseases requires effective interventions for prevention, detection, and treatment. However, the development and clinical evaluation of new medical interventions is expensive and there is limited economic incentive for commercial organisations to invest in research & development for infections predominantly affecting low- and middle-income countries. Nevertheless, innovative mechanisms have been established to accelerate the discovery and assessment of new medical interventions for poverty-related diseases, including major international public–private partnerships. EDCTP has made an important contribution to this landscape, in collaboration with its public and private strategic partners, boosting the conduct of clinical trials in infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.