SNIP-AFRICA

Severe neonatal infection adaptive platform trials in Africa

An African-European collaboration aiming to improve the way we treat severe infections in newborns

What is this study about?

SNIP-AFRICA aims to establish a clinical research network to implement adaptive platform trials in sub-Saharan Africa, responding to the urgent need for improved treatment of neonatal sepsis in the context of increasing antimicrobial resistance. 

SNIP-AFRICA brings together partners with experience in designing and running randomised controlled trials, including adaptive platform trials, and in neonatology, building on existing expertise and capacity to enable a rapid response to this major health threat.

The project will: 

  • Define potential treatments of interest with pharmacokinetic (PK) studies 
  • Deliver adaptive platform randomised controlled trials testing multiple interventions 
  • Enable ongoing data collection on current clinical management, healthcare utilisation and microbiology data among hospitalised infants with neonatal sepsis 
  • Translate results into policy  
  • Bring together expertise from all partners to provide training opportunities and strengthen research capacity 

Type of study

Randomised trial

Who is funding the study?

SNIP-AFRICA is funded by the European Union under the Global Health EDCTP3 Programme (project No. 101103201).

When is it taking place?

The network launched in 2023 and is expected to run until 2028.

Where is it taking place?

SNIP-AFRICA is run by a number of partners across Africa and Europe:
Fondazione Penta ETS, Italy
St George's, University of London, United Kingdom
African Research Coalition for Health, Kenya
MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, United Kingdom
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology Kumasi, Ghana
DNDi-GARDP Southern Africa NPC, South Africa
MU-JHU Care Ltd | MU-JHU Research Collaboration, Uganda
Ifakara Health Institute Trust, Tanzania
University of Antwerp, Belgium


Associated Partners:
GARDP, Switzerland
University of Zurich, Switzerland

Who is included?

SNIP-AFRICA will primarily focus on neonates, however the network could be readily extended to include infants and older children in the future.