Investment headache

Government says it wants investment in medical research in South Africa to double to R4 billion to R5 billion annually as part of its industrial policy action plan. However this target may not be easy to achieve, given intense competition globally among countries keen to win a cut of pharmaceutical companies' drug research and development budgets.

Some steps have been taken by Government. Science and Technology Minister, Naledi Pandor, announced in her recent budget speech that investment in the South African National Research Network would be R200 million. This will ensure that all universities in South Africa are connected to the network by the end of this year. Pandor also announced the establishment of 62 new research chairs, with a total investment in research chairs of R914 million by 2013.

The Pharmaceutical Industry Association of South Africa (Piasa) says with more multinational pharmaceutical companies rationalising research expenditure, South Africa needs to be strategic to maintain its position as an ideal location for clinical research. However there are hurdles, one of which is the regulatory environment. Kirti Narsai, head of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at Piasa said South Africa needs to improve regulation and operational efficiency, as well as the approval process.

Narsai said a way to achieve this might be to move research application processes from a paper to an electronic base. Sibongile Kubheka, a medical director at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), agrees, saying clinical research approval delays are a concern for UK-based GSK Global. She said there were inconsistent time lines for approving clinical trials, although some trials were being approved more quickly than others. Improvements in approval processes needed to be spread across the board, she added.

Another worry is whether South Africa has adequate skills. Narsai said South Africa has a limited talent pool and we have to bring new and young people into the system to keep the country competitive. Prof Kelly Chibale of the University of Cape Town says said the problem was not the studying, but graduates had no opportunities for further research and they looked for opportunities elsewhere.

He said South Africa's and sub-Saharan Africa's disease burdens were often unique and offered an ideal platform for conducting clinical trials, but the focus on research around HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis was too great. Other areas needed research, such as the African tsetse fly, which causes sleeping sickness. Research into illnesses from which relatively few South Africans suffer is limited. Alan Dunn, chairman of the South African Cystic Fibrosis Association, said the organisation relied on the US and the UK for research, as it did not have the scope to win funds for research. The disease affects 1 000 registered patients in South Africa. Muhammad Ali Dhansay, head of the Medical Research Council(MRC), said the focus was on high-impact diseases and the MRC's funding was guided by a need to concentrate on priority diseases.

Source: Xolile Bhengu, The Financial Mail (17 June 2011)