News24 | PhD candidate wins SA innovation challenge, bagging R500k for child-friendly HIV treatment

Mpho Kotlolo won the EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge with a child-friendly antiretroviral that she developed along with a team of researchers.

• Mpho Kotlolo, a PhD candidate in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tshwane University of Technology, recently won the EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge.
• Kotlolo won R500 000, which she aims to funnel back into her research to advance the development of a child-friendly antiretroviral.
• Kotlolo says pharmaceutical entrepreneurship can be directed towards solving targeted problems in Africa and positively impact society at large.

A young PhD candidate recently won an innovation challenge with her age-appropriate and child-friendly antiretroviral (ARV) drug, which is set to save the lives of HIV-infected children.

Mpho Kotlolo won the EDHE Absa Innovation Challenge for her research on an ARV developed as a solution to “a long-standing gap in paediatric HIV treatment”; and a need to “improve accessibility, ease of administration and treatment adherence for young patients”.

The challenge is the largest student entrepreneurship initiative at South Africa’s 26 public universities, and Kotlolo won R500 000, which she aims to use for the advancement of her research.

She and her PharmaKids team designed a single tablet “that has three combinations of HIV drugs with the addition of a fruity taste-masking agent to make it appealing for children”.

“Our table dissolves fast using saliva, instead of water, a great benefit for people without access to water.”

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According to Kotlolo, “children struggle with large and bitter-tasting ARVs.”

This often leads to poor ARV administration adherence in young children because “crushing tablets to make it easier to swallow can lead to dose inaccuracy”.

Poor adherence to taking medication has adverse effects and is one of the leading causes for an estimated 75 000 children who died from AIDS-related causes in sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation.

Innovation that excites – a team effort

Kotlolo and a team of scientists from Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Eastern Finland conceptualised the ARV project in collaboration with pharmaceutical company Kiara Health.

Kotlolo said:

“Working in a team is important as collaboration fosters creativity and innovation.”

Kotlolo found that balancing her personal ambitions with the team’s collective goals was challenging yet rewarding, as she began to focus on the potential the project had to impact society positively.

It was no longer just about “publishing and graduating to earn the title of doctor”.

“It became a collaborative effort that could impact others’ lives.”

Future in pharmacy

Kotlolo sees herself fully immersed in the field of pharmaceuticals with a mission to save the “lives of Africa’s children”.

In entering this competition, Kotlolo noticed that she had developed a business-oriented mindset that would only benefit her when encountering “potential obstacles”.

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She now knows how to better position herself for success in the competitive landscape of entrepreneurship in the future.

“I hope to see myself - with the assistance of my team and financial support from other bodies - operating a manufacturing plant of HIV orodispersible tablets for children and distributing them to the market.”

Kotlolo believes that taking the necessary steps towards manufacturing and distributing child-friendly ARVs in the near future could “significantly improve access to essential medications for vulnerable populations, ensuring that children receive the treatment they need in a form that is easy to consume”.

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