Description

This brief is an abridged version of a research report, "Pharmaceutical Manufacturing in Africa: Towards a Research Agenda on Competitiveness and Social Inclusion·. It highlights the key research issues as identified through a series of interviews with a wide range of stakeholders in the policy domains, private sector, civil society, industry associations, development partners and research organizations. The prioritized topics have further been supplemented with extensive literature reviews on the current status of pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa and a mapping of the activities, foci and priorities of most research and development partners operating in the continent. The resultant research agenda has been subjected to stakeholder reviews and feedback and presented at regional forums for validation and refinement. The research agenda proposes that to become 'globally competitive', African pharma manufacturing should address the following: (0 Financing, Upgrading and Capacity Utilization -the need for long-term investment in technology upgrading, R&D laboratories and associated infrastructure, affordable financing mechanisms including a better understanding of 'the politics of lending' and strategies for promoting widespread innovation and commercialization (ii} intellectual property rights, and technology transfer­ including flexibilities in international agreements such as TRIPS, R&D collaborations and academia - private sector linkages and (iii} Research, Innovation and Skills Development­ how to build, incentivize and retain talent and scientific research excellence in the continent, including harnessing the opportunities provided by scientific cooperation and the role of the African diaspora.