Africa needs a strong cohort of drug discovery scientists to respond to the therapeutic needs of the continent 

Friday, May 29, 2020

The common practice of using commercial market demand to drive the discovery of new medicines has over the years reduced drug discovery work on diseases that affect Africa to a trickle. The focus on this area from research teams in Africa is minimal. The continent, therefore, needs multidisciplinary teams to be excellent in their work by building world class capabilities that can deliver much needed new medicines for local diseases.  

In response, the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) in partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT) Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3D), Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, (BMGF) have committed funding and most importantly technical support to strengthen drug discovery capabilities and create a virtual drug discovery network in Africa.

The call for proposals will support a second cohort of Drug Discovery proposals rolled out within this partnership. 

The Drug Discovery partnership specifically seeks to provide support to develop and strengthen infrastructure, drug discovery capacity and human resources. The goal being to unlock additional funding and industry partnerships for the design and creation of new therapies and products for diseases prevalent in Africa. Additionally, having local scientists who understand the scope and who work with patients daily, will offer unquantifiable benefits to the continent.Read more ..