Pharmacometrics Africa is a not-for-profit company registered in South
Africa as an established platform for interested groups to establish and
run open-access quantitative clinical pharmacology educational programs
in partnership with local research organizations and academic groups.
Pharmacometric research and clinical application is pivotal in
characterising and optimising treatments, especially for complex or
understudied populations. The application of pharmacometrics in drug
development during recent years has led to an increase in the adoption
of this technique in many drug companies and increased the demand for
skilled pharmacometricians globally. Stringent regulatory authorities
such as the US-FDA and EMA have increasingly populated their review
groups with these scientists, further increasing the demand for the
expertise and, more importantly, evidencing the impact and importance of
pharmacometrics within the drug development cycle. Creative solutions
are required to provide adequate training resources for the future.
Pharmacometrics is nascent in Africa. Here, we report on establishing
the Ugandan Chapter of Pharmacometrics Africa. This aims to transfer
primary training responsibility to local institutions and faculty for
sustainability and to build upon regional strengths in pharmacometrics.
Creating a local centre of excellence will help attract both regional
and international collaborations on quantitative clinical pharmacology.
We summarize our experience, key lessons learnt and future perspectives.