The Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan Quinn announced that the European Commission is proposing a fivefold increase in its funding for the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) of up to €1 billion.

In the framework of a high level conference on the second European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) programme, Máire Geoghegan Quinn, Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner announced that the European Commission will propose a fivefold increase in its funding for this partnership of up to €1 billion. The Commission included the EDCTP in its presentation of the new strategy for boosting international science co-operation in September 2012.

The EU's offer will be conditional on approval of the Commission's budget proposals for 2014-2020 and the funding commitments made by other parties, including EU Member States, African countries, industry and charities. The EDCTP was founded in 2003 to focus the work of the European Commission and several EU Member States, in collaboration with sub-Saharan countries, into developing and testing of new medicines against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

The first EDCTP programme that ends in 2015 has received €200 million in EU funding. This is to be matched by contributions from EU Member States. EDCTP currently supports 196 research projects. These include 57 clinical trials involving more than 100,000 patients. It has also helped train more than 300 African scientists.