Shared leadership between global and African partners is essential to expand early-phase trial capacity in sub-Saharan Africa and ensure that medical innovation serves the populations most affected by disease.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Hay, M., Thomas, D. W., Craighead, J. L., Economides, C. & Rosenthal, J. Nat. Biotechnol. 32, 40–51 (2014).
Roser, M., Ritchie, H. & Spooner, F. Burden of disease. ourworldindata.org https://ourworldindata.org/burden-of-disease (2024).
Adebamowo, C. et al. Lancet 384, 1423–1424 (2014).
Kuepfer, I. & Burri, C. Int. J. Parasitol. 39, 947–954 (2009).
Bains, R. K. Evol. Med. Public Health 2013, 118–134 (2013).
Lammers, L. A. et al. Drug Metab. Dispos. 43, 819–828 (2015).
Eagles, S. K., Gross, A. S. & McLachlan, A. J. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther. 108, 212–227 (2020).
Impact Global Health. The ripple effect: how global health R&D delivers for everyone. impactglobalhealth.org https://www.impactglobalhealth.org/insights/report-library/ripple-effect (2025).
Impact Global Health. A stronger and safer United Kingdom through global health R&D investment. impactglobalhealth.org https://www.impactglobalhealth.org/insights/report-library/a-stronger-and-safer-united-kingdom-through-global-health-rd-investment (2025).
Bahati, P., Omungo, Z. O., Bender, B. & Rono, J. J. AIDS Clin. Res. 08, (2017).
Ndomondo-Sigonda, M., Miot, J., Naidoo, S., Dodoo, A. & Kaale, E. Pharmaceut. Med. 31, 383–397 (2017).
Ncube, B. M., Dube, A. & Ward, K. Front. Med 10, 1117439 (2023).
African Vaccine Regulatory Forum (AVAREF). Guide for the Inspection of Clinical Trials (AVAREF, 2019).
Fallah, M. P., Dereje, N., Temfack, E., Tajudeen, R. & Kaseya, J. Lancet Glob. Health 13, e616–e617 (2025).
Acknowledgements
K.E.S. is an NIHR Academic Clinical Lecturer. The NIHR had no role in the design or writing of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
K.E.S., A.E.C., C.C. and B.N. conceptualized the Comment. K.E.S. wrote the original draft. A.E.C., C.C., B.N., K.J., N.F., D.G.L., M.H., R.F., Z.K., H.C.M. and S.B.G. reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stott, K.E., Chirwa, A.E., Cole, C. et al. Equitable partnerships to advance early-phase trials in sub-Saharan Africa. Nat. Health (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-025-00043-4
Published:
Version of record:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-025-00043-4