IVORY COAST – The African Development Bank Group has selected Rwanda to host the revolutionary African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation that will work with African governments, research and development centers to strengthen the regional pharmaceutical and vaccine innovation ecosystem.
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved establishment of the new groundbreaking institution called African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation in a move to enhance manufacturing capacity in Africa.
The African Development Bank’s Board approval follows African leaders’ agreement during the African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa in 2022 for the premier development finance institution to facilitate the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation.
Establishing the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, by the African Development Bank, is a game changer on accelerating the access of African pharmaceutical companies to IP-protected technologies and know-how in Africa
African Development Bank Group stated that the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation will prioritize technologies, products and processes focused primarily on diseases that are widely prevalent in Africa including current and future pandemics.
African Development Bank Group President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina stressed the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation provides a practical solution and will help to tilt the access to proprietary technologies, knowledge, know-how and processes in favor of Africa.
Although the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation will be established under the auspices of the African Development Bank, it will operate independently and raise funds from various stakeholders including governments, development finance institutions, philanthropic organizations among others.
The institution will also build human and professional skills, a sustainable research and development ecosystem as well as support upgrading of manufacturing plant capacities and regulatory quality to meet World Health Organization standards.
The approval comes at a time when there is no institution existing on the ground in Africa to support the practical implementation of Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) on non-exclusive or exclusive licensing of proprietary technologies, know-how and processes.
The African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation is expected to boost Africa’s access to the technologies that underpin the manufacture of medicines, vaccines and other pharmaceutical products as well as support the continent’s pharmaceutical industry.
The African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation will build scouting and negotiation capacity as well as bandwidth to engage with global pharmaceutical companies through world-class experts on pharmaceutical innovation and development, intellectual property rights, and health policy.
Subsequently, the experts on pharma innovation will act as a transparent intermediator advancing and brokering the interests of the African pharmaceutical sector with global and other Southern pharmaceutical companies to share IP-protected technologies, know-how and patented processes.
The revolutionary institution will also address key vulnerabilities in Africa’s health infrastructure highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic to better position Africa’s health care defense system against future pandemics.
The institution seeks to expand the manufacturing of essential pharmaceutical products including vaccines in Africa as global efforts have been hampered by intellectual property rights protection and patents on technologies, know-how, manufacturing processes and trade secrets.
In addition, the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation will partner with the African Union Commission, European Union Commission, the World Health Organization, the Medicines Patent Pool, the World Trade Organization among other bodies to foster public-private partnerships.
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