CTCAN

The challenge

Although the number of clinical trials being conducted in sub-Saharan Africa is increasing, it remains low given the size of the region’s population and its burden of disease. Multiple barriers exist, including the low visibility of clinical research sites, the fragmented clinical trial landscape, and the limited capacity of many sites. Slow and disjointed regulatory processes may also deter clinical trial sponsors, as may the lack of epidemiological data on target diseases at trial sites. 

Several clinical trial networks have been established in sub-Saharan Africa, but none provides a holistic and comprehensive view of clinical trial capacity in the region.

The project

The CTCAN project is creating an overarching umbrella clinical trial network that will link together and extend existing trial networks, providing a single point of entry to a wealth of information about clinical trial sites and laboratories, clinical research expertise, and local epidemiological data on infectious diseases.

It will be founded on the Clinical Trials Community platform, an African-led initiative launched in 2020 to provide an accessible web portal to clinical trial sites in sub-Saharan Africa. This portal provides access to more than 2,000 clinical trial sites and laboratories, plus regulatory information for more than 40 African countries. It provides linkage to clinical trial registries and incorporates epidemiological data from the Global Burden of Disease project.

The CTCAN project is building additional functionalities and integrating information from multiple other clinical trial networks. It will incorporate additional data on trial sites, laboratories and researchers, local disease epidemiology, and materials relevant to local regulatory processes.

It is also creating a standardised preparedness framework that will allow sites to undertake self-assessments and establish capacity-development plans, drawing on CTCAN’s guidance materials, training resources, templates and standard operating procedures (SOPs) relating to quality management systems.

The project will also provide access to training on regulatory processes, make available clinical trial application software, and explore the potential to provide detailed site reports.

In addition, the project is working with multiple partner networks to develop a region-wide pandemic response plan to expedite clinical research during an emerging outbreak. It will also develop a roadmap outlining the steps required to create a region-wide data-sharing network.

The CTCAN project encompasses a cross-sectoral team, including product development partnerships and major pharmaceutical companies, which are providing tools and resources to support the development of sites’ clinical trial capacity. 

Impact

The CTCAN project will link together and extend existing clinical trial networks in sub-Saharan Africa. It will:

• Raise the profile of clinical research in sub-Saharan Africa and provide clinical trial sponsors with a single point of entry into the region’s clinical trial ecosystem.
• Enable trial sites to benchmark their capacity, generate capacity-development plans, and strengthen capacity through the use of guidance and tools available through CTCAN.
• Create a network for sharing expertise and experience across trial sites.
• Facilitate major multicentre studies, including in response to pandemics.

In a world where countries are competing to host clinical trials, CTCAN will help to make sub-Saharan Africa a more attractive location for clinical research, increase the number of trials conducted in the region, and thereby ensure that African populations gain more rapid access to new medical interventions.