EDCTP2 portfolio: Collaborative research and development

The seventh year of implementation of the second EDCTP programme presents an opportune time to share an overview of progress and achievements so far. This programme is advancing the development of diagnostics, drugs and vaccines against the most important infectious diseases affecting sub-Saharan Africa, particularly benefiting vulnerable groups such as infants, children, adolescents and pregnant women.

EDCTP2 occupies a distinct global niche. Global early-stage drug discovery and intervention development have made much progress. However, increasingly, later-stage evaluation of interventions has become a bottleneck. These phase II and III clinical trials and post-licensing phase IV trials) are essential to ensure a smooth introduction of new interventions and to generate evidence on their performance in real-life settings – information needed for national policymaking.

This publication is one of four publications presenting the 2020 EDCTP portfolio. See also publications on fellowships, clinical research capacity development, and collaborative clinical research on COVID-19.

(Updated in August 2022)