Unifying Africa’s Clinical Trial Landscape: Regulatory Harmony, Infrastructure Investment, and Community Trust – Insights from Dr. Temi Folaranmi
Dr. Temi Folaranmi, VP & Therapeutic Area Head, Vaccines, Medical and Clinical Affairs, GlaxoSmithKline USA, emphasized the critical need to unify Africa’s clinical trial landscape to unlock its potential as a leading global hub. “For us to achieve recognition at the global level, regulatory frameworks need to be strengthened,” he stated.
Dr. Temi Folaranmi highlighted the challenge of navigating 54 countries with varying levels of regulatory maturity and advocated for a unified approach through the African Medicines Agency (AMA). “There is value in countries really signing up to that treaty because it benefits everybody from an introduction perspective,” he asserted, emphasizing that a unified regulatory review through the AMA would streamline product introduction and facilitate joint clinical trial protocol reviews.
Beyond regulatory harmonization, Dr. Folaranmi stressed the importance of infrastructure development. “What we want to be able to show to the rest of the world is that Africa is open for clinical trials,” he stated, outlining key areas for improvement:
- Robust Infrastructure: Enhancing hospital and laboratory systems and ensuring reliable logistics for clinical trial materials.
- Strong Ethical Frameworks: Building capacity for Ethics Committees to conduct rigorous and compliant reviews.
- Patient Engagement: Raising awareness and building trust among patients and communities.
He acknowledged the need to “level up the awareness of patients,” addressing concerns about being “used as guinea pigs” through proactive community engagement and education. “We need to also level up the awareness of patients.”
Dr. Folaranmi emphasized the paramount importance of building trust. “I think the one way to address trust and confidence of people to partake in clinical trials is to make sure that we engage those critical community stakeholders and that we involve patients very early in the design of the clinical trial itself.”
He advocated for involving patients in trial design to ensure their voices are heard and enhance trial success, and for engaging community leaders, such as village heads, emirs, imams, and pastors, as crucial stakeholders. “These are individuals that, you know, are critical stakeholders.”
Dr. Folaranmi concluded by emphasizing the need for engagement, education, and awareness to foster a mutually beneficial relationship that promotes innovation and contributes to the public good. “We need to do a good job of engaging, educating, creating awareness. So, they see it as a mutually beneficial activity, trying to promote innovation and doing those things like you are helping to contribute to the public good, for the growth of humanity, ultimately, irrespective of the result.”
Join us at the Impact Africa Summit 2025 with the theme “Integrating African Voices: Strengthening Capacity in Clinical Trials through Local Engagement and Global Partnerships Across Sub-Saharan Africa” to be part of the movement to unify Africa’s clinical trial landscape.
