is the first of its kind in Africa. Launched on Monday, 25 April, the centre is intended to advance discovery research and development in South Africa, particularly the early-stage science needed to address antimicrobial resistance.
“Doing the discovery in close proximity to the African patient is really, really critical. And it is not just what we do here, it’s also providing knowledge which the innovative pharma companies will benefit from in their… global mission to serve patients across the world.” Working with J&J will allow H3D to take new drugs beyond the candidate stage to completion and distribution, said Susan Winks, head of research operations and business development at H3D. Such partnerships are particularly important in Africa, where resources are often limited.
Addressing antimicrobial resistance is foundational to the global health agenda, according to Chibale. The threat is not restricted to poor and marginalised populations, but can affect anybody who takes antibiotics.
“For the next three to six months, what we’re going to focus on is coming up with some novel chemical matter, some novel targets to pursue. We’re going to take a two-pronged approach for that. One is to investigate some very novel screening techniques… and then also really zero in on a target to do some structure-based drug design,” said Paul Jackson, scientific director for global public health research and development at J&J.