Our Impact Across Sub-Saharan Africa

CEO Impact Message

Building Capacity. Advancing Science. Delivering Impact Across Africa.

As we reflect on 2025, I am proud of how Xcene Research has continued to translate vision into action by building one of Africa’s most trusted, globally aligned clinical research ecosystems while delivering measurable impact for patients, professionals, and communities across the continent.

At Xcene, we believe that advancing science in Africa must be anchored in people, purpose, and partnership. This belief shaped our priorities in 2025 and guided every milestone captured in this report.

Capacity building remains the cornerstone of our strategy. Through the launch of our flagship Accelerate Impact Leadership Program, the expansion of Xcene Academy 2.0, and our landmark partnership with the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP), we invested deliberately in developing Africa’s next generation of clinical research leaders. These initiatives strengthened technical excellence, ethical leadership, and global readiness ensuring African professionals are not only participating in research but leading it.

Through Xcene Academy 2.0, we trained and mentored hundreds of pharmacists, researchers, laboratory professionals, investigators, and site leaders through structured internship programs, hands-on learning, and certification-aligned curricula. Complementing this effort, our webinars and stakeholder forums created critical platforms for knowledge exchange bringing together healthcare professionals, investigators, regulators, advocacy groups, and industry partners to deepen scientific understanding, foster collaboration, and expand participation in clinical research across Africa.

In Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) research, Xcene demonstrated that high-quality, patient-centered, and globally compliant trials can be successfully executed across Sub-Saharan Africa. Managing eight SCD trials across five countries, achieving a 95% patient retention rate, and deploying over 130 trained professionals reflects the power of community engagement, strong site partnerships, and operational excellence. Our presence at global platforms such as GCSCD 2025 and ASCAT 2025 reaffirmed Africa’s growing leadership in SCD research and care.

We also took decisive steps toward African-led innovation by launching our Drug Discovery and Translational Research pipeline, moving beyond trial execution toward scientific leadership. By integrating patient experience, cultural context, and ethical rigor with collaborative partnerships, we are helping reposition Africa from a site of participation to a source of discovery.

Innovation and infrastructure were equally critical to our progress. The deployment of our Oracle Clinical-powered CTMS, the continued expansion of the Genescor App, the launch of Xcene Laboratory Diagnostics (XLD), and the advancement of XP Recruiter collectively addressed long-standing bottlenecks in trial execution, laboratory quality, patient recruitment, and data integrity. These platforms are not just tools, they are enablers of speed, trust, equity, and scalability in African research.

Beyond science, our commitment to social responsibility through the Tess Foundation (TTF Africa) ensured that impact extended into education, public health, and community empowerment supporting students, women, schools, and sickle cell warriors across multiple regions.

Finally, through thought leadership platforms such as the SCD African Scientific Symposium and the Impact Africa Summit (IAS 2025), Xcene continues to convene the voices shaping the future of clinical research in Africa bridging local expertise with global collaboration.

Africa is no longer on the margins of global health innovation.

At Xcene Research, we are proving that with the right investments in people, technology, and partnerships, Africa can and will lead.

As we look ahead, our commitment remains unwavering: to advance science with purpose, to build sustainable research capacity, and to ensure that African innovation contributes meaningfully to global health solutions.

Thank you to our partners, teams, investigators, communities, and supporters who made this impact possible.

Adebukunola Telufusi
Chief Executive Officer
Xcene Research