EDCTP will commence Grant Agreement preparation and customisation with the Project Coordinators of those proposals that have been conditionally approved for funding.

Depending on the grant scheme, the following steps may form part of the Grant Agreement:

• The Project Coordinator must respond to any comments and questions raised by the SRC and make amendments to their proposal if required
• The clinical trial sponsor must provide an official letter stating adherence of the trial  to the ICH – GCP Guidelines
• The Project Coordinator is required to complete budget forms indicating the expenditure per site per annum for the duration of the grant. Letters from all European, African and third parties providing cofunding to the project, and confirming the amount and type of cofunding are required
• A formal statement confirming that the products administered during the clinical trials with successful outcomes will be subsequently registered and made readily available, accessible and affordable in developing countries
• Information about the legal status of the project partners, in the form of a 'legal entity form’ is required.

The documents associated with the Grant Agreement can be found under the Guidelines and forms section on the website.

EDCTP funds are disbursed in the Euro currency. Grantees are required to open a Euro bank account so as to guard against exchange rate fluctuations which may jeopardise project implementation. Exceptions are accommodated where national regulations do not allow a Euro bank account.

For grants above 200,000 Euro, grantees are requested to open an individual bank account for EDCTP projects. Exceptions are accommodated where national regulations do not allow a Euro bank account.

The first instalment of the agreed grant total is normally paid out within one week of the date in which the grant agreement was signed by EDCTP (effective date).  For the majority of grants, this occurs within one to three months of the date of approval of the project by EDCTP.

In order to minimise project risk and to ensure efficient payment and utilisation of grant funding, EDCTP has implemented a Performance Related Payment Scheme for disbursement of the grant funds. With the exception of the First Payment which is usually done automatically, all subsequent payments are related to the progress, performance and reporting of the projects by the Grantee. During the Grant Agreement process, milestones and deliverables are agreed between the Grantee and EDCTP. These then form the basis of monitoring and reporting throughout the entire lifecycle of the project. Some of the milestones are linked to payments on the grant. Examples of such milestones are shown below:

In general, payments are only made after the Annual and Final Reports (Technical and Financial) have been approved.

In the event that a previous payment to a grantee was not (fully) utilised or committed in the period to which it was allocated, the next payment may be reduced.

Payments to grantees are normally made within 14 days of approval of the annual reports.