The African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDI) last week concluded its inaugural Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) meeting with a formal resolution to advance prospective Centres of Excellence and research projects to the next stage of review. The STAC is mandated to oversee the technical work of ANDI, which was launched in 2008 to build pan-African capacity and strengthen continental collaboration in the field of drugs and diagnostics innovation. The 3rd ANDI stakeholder meeting and high level forum held in Nairobi from October 11-13, 2010, announced the ANDI Governing Board and launched the first call for ANDI research projects and applications to become Centres of Excellence. The call was highly successful, generating 117 applications to become Centres of Excellence and 169 Letters of Intent for research projects. Applications were received from each sub-region on the continent (North, South, East, West and Central Africa) and from the Diaspora. Speaking at the two-day meeting hosted by UNECA, ANDI Executive Director Dr. Solomon Nwaka praised the quality and quantity of applications, noting “ANDI has made great strides over the past year and we are delighted to pass this critical milestone, shortlisting strong applications from prospective Centres of Excellence and reserach projects. ANDI is moving from discussion to action, from the committee to the field - we are becoming truly operational”. After an initial peer review and scoring process by at least two independent heads of African institutions, the ANDI Secretariat collated all scores and in cases of significant discrepancies between the two review scores, a third review was requested and conducted by a qualified WHO/TDR staff member. This peer review process identified 76 applications which scored above 70 points, and which were consequently divided amongst the STAC members for more detailed review. The 41 applications which did not score above 70 points were also made available to STAC members to review at their discretion. The STAC members then reviewed each application and applied a consistent set of criteria to determine which applications demonstrated the required capacity and expertise necessary to proceed to the final stage of review. Applications were green-lighted for final review, with recommendations from the STAC on the need for site visits or detailed interviews with the heads of each institution. The STAC Chair, Dr. Charles Mpone, closed the meeting remarking “ANDI is generating massive interest from research and pharmaceutical institutions across the continent. The STAC discussions have been extremely comprehensive and detailed and I thank the team for their commitment to ensuring a transparent and fair evaluation process. We also thank all the institutions who have taken the time to apply; to those we have selected to advance to the next stage, we congratulate you. For those who have not, ANDI would like to extend a hand to support you in building capacity in order to strengthen your future applications”. The final stage of review is expected to take six weeks, after which the final list of approved ANDI Centres of Excellence and research projects will be announced. The 4th ANDI Stakeholder Meeting, second Board Meeting, second STAC meeting and first pharmaceutical meeting will be held in Addis Ababa on October 24-28 2011. The goals of ANDI include increasing research and development collaboration among African institutions and countries; fostering public-private partnerships within Africa to support the development and manufacture of new drugs and health products; generating and manage intellectual property and explore innovative mechanisms to encourage and reward local innovation, including research drawing on traditional medicine; promoting long term economic sustainability through supporting R&D. Source: Africapractice