Emerging Markets Clinical Development Series Africa

Despite maintaining regional offices within Africa, many major drug and device manufacturers frequently overlook the continent when sponsoring clinical studies. Cultural barriers, political upheaval and uneven infrastructure are certainly causes for the lack of interest. But Africa offers tremendous expertise and opportunity for drug and device companies looking for cost-effective study sites and appropriate patient populations.

As challenging as Africa may seem, drug companies have made commitments to improve healthcare across the continent, and these companies’ clinical development strategies go hand-in-hand with that improvement. In coming years, the drug and device industries will greatly expand their clinical development presence in Africa, mainly in South Africa and a select few North African nations. Make sure that your clinical strategy team has all the knowledge available about the growth opportunities in these countries.

Africa presents a unique profile that interests many multinational life sciences companies. If the following benefits outweigh the challenges for a clinical team — as they often do — trial sponsors will find value in Africa:

• Patient access: Of all emerging regions, Africa has arguably the least access to quality care, ensuring a steady stream of dedicated patients to fill trial enrollments. In addition, the most advanced nations offer highly diverse patient populations that will translate well for submissions in the US and EU.
• Location: Many major European companies are located just across the Mediterranean from North Africa, making travel and communication easier than in Latin America, for example. For American companies, Africa is much closer than Asia.
• Underutilization: Though trial saturation is not a concern in emerging markets yet, Africa is the least saturated. Companies that establish clinical operations bases now will be ahead of the pack when more of the industry turns to Africa