Africa Has Untapped Potential in Redefining Global Drug Development, South African Scientist Says
10:14 28.11.2024 (Updated: 11:46 29.11.2024)
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Africa is one of the world's region most vulnerable to infection diseases. To tackle the problem, African countries are taking steps to develop domestic mediaction production. For instance, recently, Ethiopian Minister of Health Mekdes Daba said that Ethiopia now produces 36% of its drugs and medical supplies domestically.
Africa is the world's most genetically diverse continent, because humans originated in Africa, thus other parts of the world are actually genetic subsets of Africa, and it means that African genes influenced how individuals metabolize drugs, Professor of Organic Chemistry from the University of Cape Town Kelly Chibale told Sputnik Africa.
"Africa makes up about 15% of the global population currently. It's going to increase to maybe even 20 or so percent by 2050. And also at the same time, Africa accounts for about 20% of the global disease burden. And yet, when it comes to clinical trials, we have just on average 3% of the clinical trials that happen in Africa," the expert noted.
Lack of clinical trials in Africa with its growing population is a major problem that hinders medical progress, as drug efficacy and dosage are optimized based on trial participants, and by including diverse African populations in clinical trials, drug developers can create more effective and widely applicable medications, benefiting both Africa and the global community, the scientist explained.
🌍💊 Africa has untapped potential in redefining global drug development, South African chemist Kelly Chibale says. pic.twitter.com/hTe2Po9b61
— Sputnik Africa (@sputnik_africa) November 28, 2024
"If you can do a clinical trial in Africa, in different parts of Africa, and it works in different parts of Africa, there is a very good chance that that product will work in other parts of the world," Chibale pointed out.
🌍🧬 Diverse African genomes are a key to improving global drug efficacy and safety, South African chemist Kelly Chibale says. pic.twitter.com/WVVuD3GQnx
— Sputnik Africa (@sputnik_africa) November 28, 2024
The expert added that diverse African genomes are a key to improving global drug efficacy and safety. He noted that including more Africans in clinical trials is important for the benefit of global health because Africa's diverse genetic makeup is representative of global populations, allowing researchers to tailor drug dosages to specific genetic profiles.
"In other words, we understand their [people who take a medicine] genetic makeup in terms of the type of drug-metabolizing enzyme that they carry," he explained.
Such an approach would reduce the risk of suboptimal dosing, leading to drug resistance, and overdosing due to slow drug metabolism in certain genotypes, Chibale pointed out.
🌍🔬Drug discovery must flourish in Africa to meet the needs of its people, South African chemist Kelly Chibale says. pic.twitter.com/GAq6L0i6nO
— Sputnik Africa (@sputnik_africa) November 28, 2024
The expert said that drug discovery must flourish in Africa to meet the needs of its people.
"Building the drug discovery capability in close proximity to where the patients are in Africa is the best way to understand their real pressing unmet medical needs in their social and physical environment," Chibale noted.
The expert also highlighted the importance of self-sufficiency in drug development, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of the vulnerabilities of relying on external supplies.
"Drug discovery in Africa is really important to fuel the pipeline of homegrown and home-researched drugs," Chibale emphasized.
