What is ALIGN?
The Advancing Country-Led Innovation Introduction through Government Engagement and EvideNce (ALIGN) Consortium aims to improve health outcomes by strengthening how health products are prioritized and introduced within countries.
ALIGN brings together the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Keprecon, and ENDA Santé to support governments in South Africa, Kenya, and Senegal across:
- Whole-of-government coordination and capacity strengthening
- Data-driven decision-making
- Whole-of-market engagement (national, regional, global)
- Portfolio-based planning
Resources:
What is the ALIGN Global Hub?
The ALIGN Global Hub is a market intelligence platform designed to support prioritization and introduction decisions for health products.
It aggregates fragmented data across clinical development, regulatory systems, procurement platforms, and policy frameworks into a single, structured view.
This tool enables users to:
- Compare products across pipelines and applications
- Anticipate what is coming to market
- Support evidence-informed prioritization decisions
Health product data are fragmented across multiple systems:
- Clinical trial registries
- Regulatory agencies
- Procurement databases
- Policy lists
This fragmentation limits the ability to:
- Compare products across applications and timelines
- Identify what is coming to market
- Prioritize introduction decisions
- Align financing, procurement, and delivery planning
ALIGN’s theory of change:
Integrating fragmented data → enabling comparison → improving prioritization → accelerating equitable product introduction.
Resources:
→ ALIGN Theory of Change (coming soon) → Evidence Brief: Data Fragmentation (coming soon)
The Global Hub is designed to support key decision points in health product introduction:
Prioritization
Which products should be considered given national needs and constraints?Sequencing
When should products be introduced relative to others in the pipeline?Financing alignment
How do projected timelines align with budget cycles and funding availability?System readiness
Are delivery systems prepared for introduction and scale?
These decisions are typically made with incomplete or fragmented data - The Global Hub aims to make them more structured and comparable.
The Hub supports a simple workflow: explore → compare → interpret → decide
Explore:
- On the Overview page, navigate to the produce explorer. You can filter by disease category, product type, manufacturer or development stage by typing in the area you’re interested in. You can also use global page filters by clicking on the drop down menus or clicking the interactive plots. You can always reset the filters by clicking the blue circle arrow in the bottom-right of your screen.
- Select a product you are interested in and scroll down to view additional details including projected launch timeline and global introduction readiness.
Compare
- Select the product you want to compare and hit the green “Add to Cart” button at the top right hand corner of the product explorer. Repeat to add products you wish to compare.
- Then navigate to the Product Comparison page or click on the Cart in the upper right corner of the screen and select “Compare your products”
Interpret : Review projected vs actual milestone timelines
Decide : Coming soon! → a prioritization tool that incorporates projected timelines, cost-effectiveness, and likelihood of success to support portfolio-based decision-making.
User guides
→ Quick Start Guide (coming soon)
→ Full User Manual (coming soon)
→ Video walkthrough (coming soon)
The current version of the Global Hub focuses on selected high-priority health applications::
- HIV/AIDS,
- Tuberculosis (TB),
- Malaria,
- Maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH)
Health products are categorized by:
- Type: therapeutics, vaccines, diagnostics, medical devices
- Indication: specific diseases or conditions
Documentation:
→ Applications & Inclusion Criteria → MNCH Definitions → Data Dictionary
ALIGN integrates structured data across pharmaceutical R&D, regulatory systems, procurement platforms, and policy frameworks to create a comprehensive view of the health product landscape.
Data sources are integrated in phases.
- Completed → fully available in the current version
- In-progress → partially integrated or under active development
- Planned → scheduled for future releases based on priority and feasibility
| Database | Domain | Scope | Status | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Impact Global Health R&D tracker; G-finder financial commitments | R&D Funding | Global | Completed | — |
| MMV antimalarial pipeline | R&D Pipeline | Global | Completed | — |
| DNDi portfolio | R&D Portfolio | Global | Completed | — |
| FIND DxConnect Test Directory | Diagnostic directory | Global | Completed | — |
| Clinicaltrials.gov | Clinical Trials | Global | In-progress | Q2 2026 |
| AVAC clinical trials database | Clinical Trials | Global | In-progress | Q2 2026 |
| MPP LAPaL | Licensing | Global | In-progress | Q2 2026 |
| MPP MedsPaL | IP/Patents | Global | In-progress | Q2 2026 |
| International Clinical Trials registry platform (ICTRP) | Clinical Trials | Global | On-hold | Q2–Q3 2026 |
| China’s ChiCTR | Clinical Trials | China | Not started | Q2 2026 |
| Africa’s PACTR | Clinical Trials | Africa | Not started | Q2 2026 |
| Brazil’s ReBEC | Clinical Trials | Brazil | Not started | Q2 2026 |
| European Union trials registry | Clinical Trials | Europe | Q2 2026 | |
| EMA (European Medicines Agency) | Regulatory | EU | Not started | Q3 2026 |
| SAHPRA | Regulatory | South Africa | Not started | Q3 2026 |
| WHO Drug Regulatory Status | Regulatory | Global | Not started | Q3 2026 |
| WHO Prequalification list (PQ) | Pre-qualification | Global | Not started | Q3 2026 |
| Global EML | EML (Comparative) | Global | Q3 2026 | |
| WHO Global Price Reporting System | Pricing | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| GF price list | Pricing | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| GF ARV procurement | Procurement | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| GF HIV Transactions | Transactions | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| GF data Explorer | Portfolio/spend | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| GF annual reports | Reporting | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| PEPFAR database | Spend/Procurement | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| UNICEF Supply Catalogue | Catalogue/Pricing | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| UNICEF supply market reports | Market intelligence | Global | Not started | Q4 2026 |
| WHO ARV and diagnostics demand: forecasting market trends | Demand/Forecast | Global | 2027 | |
| Impact Global Health – Maternal health products | R&D Pipeline | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| Impact Global Health – Gynecological products | R&D Pipeline | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| GHIT fund portfolio | R&D Portfolio | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| PATH diagnostic manufacturing | Manufacturing directory | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| CHAI local vaccine manufacturing database | Manufacturing | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| SD Biosensor | Manufacturing | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| Walvax | Manufacturing | China/Global | Not started | 2027 |
| Zhifei Biological | Manufacturing | China/Global | Not started | 2027 |
| GSK pipeline | Company pipeline | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| Pfizer pipeline | Company pipeline | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| Merck pipeline | Company pipeline | Global | Not started | 2027 |
| Janssen R&D pipeline | Company pipeline | Global | Not started | 2027 |
Full documentation:
- Projected timelines are estimates based on observed patterns and available data
- Status reflects data availability, not certainty of outcomes
- Comparisons are intended to support decision-making, not replace contextual judgment
Users should interpret outputs in conjunction with national priorities, financing constraints, and system capacity.
The Hub transforms fragmented data into decision-ready insights through structured integration, validation, and projection methods.
Data integration
Data are harmonized into a unified product registry using:
- Name and synonym matching
- Identifier mapping
- Cross-source validation
Key metrics
Milestones tracked:
- Proof of concept
- Marketing authorization
- First launch in LMICs
→ Product introduction milestones → Cost-effectiveness analysis → Likelihood of success analysis
Full documentation
→ Full Methodology Report → Forecasting Methods → Validation Protocol → Technical Architecture Guide
The Global Hub builds on ALIGN’s horizon scanning system, integrating:
- R&D pipelines
- Regulatory approvals
- Procurement signals
This enables tracking from development → introduction.
Definitions and documentation
→ Pipeline Definitions & Terms (coming soon)
→ ALIGN Data Dictionary → Glossary
The roadmap reflects planned expansions in data coverage, analytical capabilities, and decision-support functionality.
Q3 2026
- National Hub pilots (Kenya, South Africa and Senegal)
- Expanded application coverage beyond TB, HIV, malaria, and MNCH.
Q4 2026
- Integration of predictive modeling (probability of success and time to market)
- Portfolio prioritization tools (e.g. budget impact and combined cost-effectiveness)
Q1 2027
- Integration and harmonization of country-specific product databases
- Demand + delivery data integration
- Some metrics are still under development
- Coverage is partial
- Projections may change as data updates
Future releases will expand scope, improve accuracy, and enhance usability.