Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025319 (Oral 041) | Published: 12 Aug 2025
Evelyn Adjei-Mensah1, 2, Ernest Oyeh3, Alex Asamoah Ankomah4,&
1Department of Community Health, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana, 2Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana, 3Akai House Clinic, Accra, Ghana, 4Impact Global Health, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Alex Asamoah Ankomah, Impact Global Health, Accra, Ghana. Email: aankomah@impactgh.org
Received: 15 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 12 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Research and Development (R&D), Innovation financing, pipeline, R&D policy, sustainable funding
©Evelyn Adjei-Mensah et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Evelyn Adjei-Mensah et al., Is Lassa Fever Research and Development at Risk? A Global Funding Analysis from the G-FINDER project. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00041. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00041
Lassa fever poses significant health and economic impacts in Africa. However, there remains no approved vaccine. Rapid diagnostics and broad-spectrum therapeutics are needed. R&D efforts have accelerated but face growing threats due to shrinking donor funding and shifting donor priorities. The Lassa fever coalition seeks to foster African-led R&D, underscoring the need for a comprehensive understanding of the current funding landscape. This study examines global R&D investments for Lassa fever, contextualized with the R&D pipeline, to inform investment priorities and support policy toward achieving the coalition’s mission.
Leveraging the G-FINDER project, investment data from funders, intermediaries, and product developers (2015-2023) was analysed. Active pipeline candidates were identified from major pipeline data sources including clinical trial databases. Analysis was performed in Microsoft Excel by product type, R&D stage, and funder.
Global funding for Lassa fever R&D totalled $449m between 2015-2023, with over half ($227m, 51%) directed towards vaccines. The US NIH was the largest funder, contributing $223m (50%) primarily for basic research ($102m, 46%). CEPI provided $171m (38%), focused almost entirely on clinical vaccine development. Nearly all funding came from high-income countries, particularly the US government ($234m, 52%). The current pipeline has 46 candidates – 16 vaccines, 9 drugs and 13 diagnostics, including two rapid tests in late development. Most vaccine candidates are viral vectors, with three in clinical trials, including the leading phase II candidate that meets the WHO target product profile. Biologics are predominantly monoclonal antibodies in preclinical development.
Lassa fever R&D funders are few and heavily reliant on the US government, a concerning vulnerability amid shifting donor priorities. While vaccine R&D has advanced, most countermeasures remain in early development. Urgent efforts to diversify funding and increasing domestic investment are essential. Without this, the opportunity to deliver effective countermeasures against Lassa fever risks being missed.
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