EDCTP launches € 12.6 M grants for HIV treatment and microbicides

EDCTP wishes to make a contribution to mitigating the effect of this disease by announcing funding opportunities for HIV/AIDS researchers. To commemorate the occasion EDCTP is happy to announce the launch of two calls for proposals; one on HIV/AIDS treatment and the other on microbicides (total € 12 M).

Call for proposal on HIV treatment
Title: Clinical trials, capacity building and networking for HIV/AIDS treatment in sub-Saharan Africa
The objectives of this call are:
i. To support the conduct of clinical trials that evaluate second-line treatment strategies, with a focus on what products to switch to when changing from first to second-line treatment and when to switch.

ii. To improve Antiretroviral therapy (ART) in children, with a specific focus on using more optional combinations and product formulations with sub-studies in pharmacokinetics of drug combinations.

Available funds: € 6,500,000
Deadline of application: 1 April 2008
Call for proposal on HIV microbicides
Title: Clinical trials, capacity building and networking for HIV/AIDS microbicides in sub-Saharan Africa
The objectives of this call are to support the conduct of clinical studies on microbicides that will yield data on safety, surrogate end-points of biological activity and surrogate markers that might correlate with safety or efficacy. In addition, proposals that evaluate the effect of barriers, concurrent sexually transmitted infections, frequency of microbicide use and stage of menstrual cycle on safety and efficacy are invited.

Innovative products or approaches are particularly encouraged.

Available funds: € 6,100,000
Deadline of application: 1 May 2008
Please consult the EDCTP website for more details on these calls for proposals on HIV/AIDS: www.edctp.org.
Leadership in HIV prevention and treatment
EDCTP strongly supports Leadership as this year’s World AIDS Day’s theme. Strong African leadership is essential for sustainability of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. EDCTP aims to improve the overall environment for carrying out clinical trial activities in Africa and promote African leadership in the conduct of these trials. Therefore, training of personnel, adequate infrastructure capacity, ethics review mechanisms and regulatory framework for conducting quality clinical trials in sub-Saharan Africa are at the basis of all EDCTP-funded activities.