Renewed partnership to boost the skills needed to drive drug discovery and development in Africa

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) (www.IFPMA.org/) and H3D Foundation (https://H3DFoundation.org/) have today announced a new three-year phase of their partnership, aiming to boost the skills and capacity needed to drive increased research and development of new medicines in Africa.

Despite 20% of the global burden of disease impacting people living in Africa, just 2% of medical research focused on new infections originates in Africa[1]. Since 2021, IFPMA and the H3D Foundation have collaborated to provide early and mid-career scientists in Africa with new opportunities to develop their skills to help address this challenge.

Richard Amewu, Principal Investigator, Drug Innovation Group, University of Ghana, said, “The IFPMA partnership with H3D Foundation has lent credibility to the continent, unlocking further international investment in drug discovery research and development. The continuation of the partnership between IFPMA and H3D Foundation is essential to allow us to continue to gain momentum with building the African drug discovery ecosystem, and to address critical gaps in research capacity, capabilities, and infrastructure.”

Over the next three years, the partnership will tackle issues such as strengthening health systems, expanding the innovation ecosystem value chain, and addressing barriers for African scientists to break new ground within the drug discovery-related sciences.

Speaking from the Conference on Public Health in Africa in Lusaka where the announcement was made, Prof Kelly Chibale, Chairman and CEO of H3D-F and Founder and Director of H3D said, “Our partnership with IFPMA has enabled us to scale up initiatives our H3D Centre has built and been a feeder for more programs and an even bigger vision, including for the Grand Challenges Africa Drug Discovery Accelerator. This partnership has also catalyzed interactions with representatives from the innovative pharmaceutical industry, at both local and international levels.”

Greg Perry, Assistant Director General, IFPMA said, “Attracting, developing, and nurturing scientific talent and innovation at local level will help ensure that the African continent will be part of the innovation ecosystem value chain and healthy innovation.  We are confident that our continued partnership with H3D Foundation is a sustainable investment in Africa’s health ecosystem, and we look forward to what we will achieve together in the next three years.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).

For further information, please contact:
Micaela Neumann
Communications Manager, IFPMA
+41 79 774 23 99
m.neumann@ifpma.org 

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About IFPMA:
The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) represents over 90 innovative pharmaceutical companies and associations around the world. Our industry’s almost three million employees discover, develop, and deliver medicines and vaccines that advance global health. Based in Geneva, IFPMA has official relations with the United Nations and contributes industry expertise to help the global health community improve the lives of people everywhere.
For more information, visit IFPMA.org.

About H3D Foundation:
H3D Foundation (https://H3DFoundation.org/) aims to position Africa as a global player in innovative pharmaceutical R&D by building infrastructure as well as the skills of African scientists and researchers. The Foundation further aims to serve as a convening platform and credible voice for evidence-based global health views. It was established in 2019 to build on the success of the H3D Centre’s capacity development programs, which include the Global Health Mentorship Program and the Grand Challenges Africa Drug Discovery Program, which engages more than 40 scientists in seven African countries.

About H3D Centre:
The H3D Centre (https://H3D.uct.ac.za/) is the first integrated drug discovery and development institution in Africa. Founded at UCT in 2010, it pioneers world-class drug discovery to develop life-saving medicines for communicable diseases that predominantly affect African patients. Its research touches on antimicrobial resistance, malaria, tuberculosis and, most recently, process chemistry to design cost-competitive processes for the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacture.