The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and the H3D Foundation have renewed their collaboration for a further three years, with the shared objective of enhancing skills and capabilities crucial for advancing research and development of new medicines in Africa.
“The collaboration has lent credibility to the continent, unlocking further international investment in drug discovery research and development,” said Richard Amewu, Principal Investigator of the Drug Innovation Group at the University of Ghana.
On the significance of the extension he added “Continuing this partnership is essential for building the African drug discovery ecosystem and addressing gaps in research capacity, capabilities, and infrastructure.”
Over the next three years, the renewed partnership will focus on strengthening health systems, expanding the innovation ecosystem value chain, and overcoming barriers that hinder African scientists from making contributions to drug discovery-related sciences
Despite Africa bearing 20 percent of the global burden of disease, only 2 percent of medical research focused on new infections originates from the continent. Since their initial partnership in 2021, IFPMA and the H3D Foundation have provided early and mid-career scientists in Africa with opportunities to develop their skills, addressing the critical gap in research and development capacity for new medicines.
“Our collaboration with IFPMA has enabled us to expand the H3D Centre’s initiatives and has laid the foundation for more programs and an even bigger vision,” stated Prof Kelly Chibale, Chairman and CEO of H3D.
