Page 10 - SAMRC Annual Report 2024-2025

ACHIEVEMENTS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Supporting Health Research all priority areas to address national health needs,
and Innovation Ecosystems including during pandemics.
in South Africa Through The SAMRC’s Grants Innovation and Product

Strategic Partnerships Development (GIPD) unit has been particularly
focused on building research and innovation
The SAMRC plays a particularly important role
in supporting and building the national health ecosystems for vaccines, medical devices and
research and innovation system in South Africa diagnostics and indigenous knowledge system/
through its core functions of conducting research, plant-based medicines. Key to this has been
funding research and supporting research capacity the establishment of local and international
development, innovation and research translation. partnerships for funding and general ecosystem
Its funding and innovation activities in 2024 focused participation and support.
substantially on driving an ecosystem approach
to ensure that the organisation not only supports Vaccines Research and
cutting edge research but is also able to facilitate Innovation Ecosystem
the translation of this research into policy, products
and practice. Fully capacitated and well-coordinated South Africa has established, through decades of R&D
ecosystems enable aligned and efficient research and infrastructure investments, a Vaccines Research
and development efforts that can be applied in and Innovation Ecosystem that is depicted below.

VACCINES VALUE CHAIN

Carriers/ 2 Species
Adjuvants Challenge Models
Genomic Vaccine
surveillance and Immunogen Candidate Preclinical Process Clinical Grade
Analysis Design Development Testing Development Manufacture
Vaccine Immunology Process Enzymes for
Platforms Assessment Optimisation production

Human Resource
Development
Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation

Depiction of the vaccine development value chain and ecosystem in South Africa

8 SAMRC ANNUAL REPOR T 2024-25