European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)
Opportunities for Research Collaboration
EDCTP has been operating since September 2003. It was in fact the first ever Article 169 activity and was set up under the EU 6th Framework programme of research following a co-decision by the European Parliament (EP) and the Council. Article 169 of the EU Treaty enables the European Commission to enter into joint research projects with groups of the EU Member States.
EDCTP was provided with 200M Euro by the Commission from FP6 and 14 EU Member States plus Norway, agreed between them to match this funding with a further 200M Euro from their own research programmes on poverty related diseases of HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition we have received significant third party funding from private foundations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, public private partnerships and pharmaceutical companies.
At the heart of the EDCTP remit is the objective of accelerating the development of new vaccines and treatments for the poverty related diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis through integration of the research programmes of the participating member states through capacity building and developing true partnerships between researchers in the EU countries and those in Africa. EDCTP thereby provides not just a platform for work in Africa with African researchers but also provides an excellent vehicle for linking Member State researchers in large scale clinical trial consortia.
The EDCTP programme has now become very successful and in 2007 was granted a no-cost extension by the Commission up to 2010. After 2010 there will be a new co-decision by the EP and the Council to extend the activities of EDCTP, both in range and scope, possibly for at least a further 10 years. The process towards developing a new co-decision has already begun and as part of this process there is the opportunity for those member states that were not part of the EU in 2003 to become members of EDCTP. EDCTP has therefore been encouraged by the EC to explore with both policy-makers and leading researchers in the new Member States any interest that they may have in participating in the EDCTP programme and to explore the possibility of the Czech Republic becoming a member of EDCTP.
We have therefore proposed a meeting on 23 October 2009 for EDCTP to provide details of our objectives, activities, funding structure and future plans. We also want to hear from Czech scientists and officials about Czech research in the area of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (and possibly malaria). We in turn would like to present the work that we have been funding in EDCTP and discuss possibilities of collaborations or opportunities for Czech scientists to participate in EDCTP funded projects. For example, EDCTP funds very large clinical trial projects in sub-Saharan Africa. These integrated projects which are based on partnership between European and African scientists, involve not only the clinical trial itself but also capacity building, training and networking activities to accelerate the research, promote sustainability and ensure eventual delivery of the fruits of research to those who need it. As the number of researchers able to carry out these large trials is limited, the EDCTP programme provides an opportunity for individual researchers with an interest in this field, both from Europe and from Africa, to benefit from participation in a high profile multinational trial – even when their national programme in these areas is limited. A partner in the consortium may contribute to the clinical trial itself, or to one element of the work, or to just the capacity building or training elements. The programme therefore actively encourages collaboration between researchers in Europe as well as with African scientists.
We would also hope that the meeting itself would generate ideas and possibilities for Czech researchers to collaborate with EDCTP. We also wish to speak with officials from the Czech ministries or funding bodies that may have an interest in collaborating with us on research in these areas.
