Oracle Supports Africa Clinical Research Network (ACRN) to Advance a New Era of Clinical Research, Launches First Trial

The Africa Clinical Research Network (ACRN) has launched its first clinical trial with Oracle in Africa, which commenced in February 2026. The PROgnostic Testing to Enhance Clinical Triage of Pre-eclampsia in Africa (PROTECT-Africa) trial aims to define, validate, and evaluate the clinical performance of placental biomarkers using innovative point-of-care platforms. The study will predict the absence or occurrence of severe pre-eclampsia-related maternal and fetal outcomes among African women with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

This trial is being conducted in Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Tanzania and aims to recruit 1,106 pregnant women. Pre-eclampsia, along with severe complications such as eclampsia and HELLP (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count) syndrome, is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity globally, particularly in resource-limited settings across Africa.

ACRN selected Oracle's clinical trial and safety applications to advance its region-led, patient-centric research initiatives, focused on delivering essential treatments to communities faster and more equitably. The comprehensive Oracle cloud platform, including Oracle Clinical One, Argus Safety, and analytics, can help ACRN automate workflows, manage critical data, and run more efficient trials with the goal of enhancing safety and expanding patient access to clinical research across Africa.

"Our mission at ACRN is to empower African researchers to lead and participate in clinical trials that directly address the health needs of our communities," said Tariro Makadzange, chief executive officer, Africa Clinical Research Network. "Oracle's robust and integrated clinical trial and safety solutions will enable us to conduct studies with greater efficiency, transparency, and, most importantly, an unwavering focus on patient well-being."

Delivering new research and innovation across Africa

Currently, less than three percent of global clinical trials are conducted in Africa. To help change this dynamic and expand access to research opportunities, ACRN is building a pan-African clinical research ecosystem to address the significant disparity in research representation between Africa and the rest of the world. ACRN aims to accelerate medical innovations that are relevant and accessible to African populations by leveraging Oracle's modern, cloud-based clinical trial infrastructure and supporting local research teams. As part of this effort, ACRN has selected an initial cohort of 59 network sites across 14 countries: Senegal, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In addition to the PROTECT-Africa trial, ACRN plans to launch additional clinical trials focused on global health this year. With Oracle's leading clinical and safety solutions, the organization can optimize study startup, streamline trial execution, and improve data connectivity and quality, all while maintaining high levels of patient safety. ACRN's initiative to build robust, self-sustaining clinical research capacity across Africa can contribute to a more equitable and globally representative landscape of medical innovation.

"Our collaboration with the Africa Clinical Research Network is a significant step toward advancing modern, patient-centric research that can help accelerate scientific breakthroughs across Africa," said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Health and Life Sciences. "Together, we are creating the digital framework to enable innovation and AI integration into clinical research across the continent. The organization's on-the-ground expertise and dedication, combined with our cloud-based clinical trial and safety solutions, create a meaningful opportunity to drive innovation throughout the region, help bridge the research gap between Africa and the rest of the world, and ultimately support better health outcomes for communities."

Learn more about the ACRN and Oracle collaboration in this video.

Learn how customers like ACRN use Oracle's unified life sciences platform to manage the full clinical trial lifecycle-from planning and site activation to data collection, analysis, and safety reporting-at https://www.oracle.com/lifesciences.

¹ Ethiopian Journal of Health Science - Breaking the barriers for conducting clinical trials in Africa: A need for higher commitment and collaborations, May 2024, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12110202/