Brussels, 02/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 2 December, the European Commission announced that the second European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership programme (EDCTP2) will work with a budget of €2 billion over the next ten years to fight infectious diseases in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan African countries. This is double the research budget for the first phase of the programme (EDCTP 1)
Ebola and neglected infectious diseases. This programme will not only be focusing on diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, the so-called poverty-related diseases but will also be extended to Ebola and certain neglected infectious and parasitic diseases such as hookworms. It can now cover the stages of clinical development and testing. This gives the potential to fund a new treatment from the moment it leaves the laboratory bench right up to its full regulatory approval and subsequent surveillance.
For this, the EU will contribute €683 million from Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme (as opposed to the previous €200 million). €1.5 billion will come from European countries and there has been an increased commitment from private sector contributors too. The Commission is hoping that the private sector contribution will reach the figure of €500 million (as opposed to the previous €70 million). A memorandum of understanding has now been signed with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and another is just about to be signed with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said that, “Infectious diseases like AIDS, Ebola or malaria are a major global threat, but they hit poor communities hardest. The latest Ebola outbreak reminds us that more research is needed to find new medicines and vaccines that will help save millions of lives”. John Gyapong, board member of the EDCTP Association was delighted that “Neglected Infectious Diseases and Implementation Science Research are now covered. This presents a great opportunity for African countries to improve their health care delivery systems”. The EDCTP Association now includes 13 European countries (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom) and 11 African countries (Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Gambia, Ghana, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia).
By the end of 2012, EDCTP had funded 246 projects involving researchers from 259 institutions in 30 sub-Saharan African and 16 European countries. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa has now killed 7,000 people. HIV/AIDS alone kills more than 1.5 million people every year, while malaria and tuberculosis together kill an estimated 2.1 million people every year. (AN)