Cures Within Reach (CWR), a US-based nonprofit, is expanding its clinical trial efforts in low and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) through a renewed partnership with Open Philanthropy. The collaboration will fund 16 additional clinical trials over the next two years, focusing on affordable treatments using existing medicines, nutraceuticals, and indigenous remedies.
Focus on Repurposing Existing Treatments
The initiative emphasizes repurposing existing treatments to address critical health challenges in underserved populations. Barbara Goodman, President and CEO of CWR, stated that the partnership aims to invest in transformative research initiatives that benefit patients in LMICs and strengthen local healthcare infrastructure by empowering LMIC-based clinicians and researchers.
In 2023, CWR funded a Phase 1 trial in Kenya that treated snakebites with unithiol, led by Professor Mangal Hamaluba at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme. The success of this trial led to a $5.4 million grant to launch a Phase 2B clinical trial in Brazil and Ghana. This trial will further test two inexpensive oral treatments—unithiol and marimastat—that could save lives in rural settings where snakebites are often fatal.
Community Engagement and Local Partnerships
The upcoming 16 clinical trials will prioritize community engagement by partnering with trusted local organizations to deliver research outcomes to patients. Ray Kennedy, Programme Officer for Open Philanthropy, emphasized the importance of sustained and coordinated investment to address complex health challenges in LMICs. He noted that empowering researchers and clinicians in their own communities accelerates medical breakthroughs and builds a research infrastructure to serve historically underserved populations.
New Trials in Nigeria and Other LMICs
CWR recently announced six new clinical trials set for 2025, expanding its LMIC research portfolio to 19 studies. Two of these trials will be held in Nigeria. At the University of Lagos, a study will explore the potential of a skin cancer drug in treating high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, a condition that can progress to cervical cancer. At the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, researchers will investigate the effectiveness of Metformin, a diabetes medication, in promoting weight loss among non-diabetic obese Nigerians.
Additional studies will be conducted in Malawi, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Mali. In Malawi, the focus will be on using Xylitol to prevent premature births. In Bangladesh, a combination therapy for helminthiasis in children will be tested at the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh. In Kenya, the aim is to repurpose Lactoferrin and Lysozyme to address environmental enteric dysfunction taking place at KEMRI – Kenya Medical Research Institute. Lastly, in Mali, a trial will compare two treatments for malaria at the University of Science, Technology, and Engineering of Bamako.
