Statement from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation about today’s Coronavirus Global Response Summit

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SEATTLE, May 4, 2020 – Earlier today at the Coronavirus Global Response Summit, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a commitment of $125 million towards the international collective effort to develop and equitably distribute COVID-19 diagnostics, therapies, and vaccines. This includes $50 million of new funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and $75 million of previously announced funding for therapeutics and diagnostics. More information about the summit is available at global-response.europa.eu.

Commenting on the summit and the foundation’s commitment, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said:

“In order to beat COVID-19, the world needs more than great science. It needs great humanity, the commitment to help people beat this virus no matter where they live. This effort will help us do that. With the collective resources and brainpower pledged today, we’ll finally be able to attack this virus in the way it is attacking us – globally. Our foundation is proud to support this critical work, and thanks the European Commission for convening the Global Response Conference.”

Today’s summit is mobilizing new and existing commitments from governments, philanthropies and the private sector for the international response to COVID-19. In addition, a number of donors are making early pledges to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to ensure it can continue to protect the world’s poorest children against vaccine-preventable diseases.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s commitment of $125 million today includes the following:

  • $50 million of previously announced funding to the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, a collaborative effort initiated by the Gates Foundation, Wellcome and Mastercard to accelerate drug development;
  • $25 million from previously announced funding to support a coordinated effort to develop and deliver diagnostics; and
  • $50 million of new funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to support its future efforts to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries. This is in addition to the foundation’s core Gavi pledge for 2021-2025 that will be announced before or at the pledging conference on June 4, 2020.

This work will be coordinated with a range of partners through the Access to COVID-19 (ACT) Accelerator. Today’s announcement brings the foundation’s total commitment to the global COVID-19 response to more than $300 million.

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About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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