LifeArc makes multi-million pound investment to support drug discovery in sub-Saharan Africa
LifeArc and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are jointly investing £6 million ($7.2m) in the Grand Challenges African Drug Discovery Accelerator (GC ADDA) programme, a collaboration that will support 5 African drug discovery projects over 3 to 5 years.
Launched in 2018, the Grand Challenges Africa Drug Discovery programme was developed to identify and support exciting new drug discovery projects in Africa, strengthen the continent’s drug discovery capabilities and create a project-driven virtual African drug discovery network. Funding from Grand Challenges Africa Drug Discovery has already supported 2 cohorts of 8 projects focusing on TB and malaria.
In this second phase, LifeArc and the Foundation will each invest £3 million to support the next wave of pan-African consortium projects, building on the capabilities strengthened in phase one.
Funded projects include research into new treatment approaches for malaria – a disease which continues to disproportionately impact Africa, responsible for more than 500,000 deaths in the region (1) – and a new approach to treating TB, which is now the most lethal infectious disease globally. All projects are underpinned by a commitment to build and retain drug discovery capacity and world-class scientists within Africa.
For further details, read the full announcement here.
Source: LifeArc
