International Vaccine Institute Receives $40 Million Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

SEOUL, South Korea -- The International Vaccine Institute announced today they have received a $40 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The funds will be used for the development and introduction of new and improved vaccines against three diseases B cholera, dysentery, and typhoid B scourges for the worlds most impoverished.

This is a momentous event for the poorest of the world. These diseases kill over 1.8 million children and adults each year. The generosity of Bill and Melinda Gates will surely lead to the saving of many of these lives, said Professor Barry Bloom, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Chairman of the Institute Board of Trustees.

Specifically, the grant will support the DOMI Program (Diseases of the Most Impoverished). The Program will conduct research and development of a number of promising vaccine candidates against the three target diseases. DOMI will be carried out in collaboration with Harvard University, the University of Gothenburg, the University of Maryland, the Pasteur Institute, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Several successful developing country institutions will also participate.

Prof. Jan Holmgren of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has recently assumed the Chairmanship of the Institutes science advisory committee. His lab will play a major role in DOMI.

"I have devoted my career to developing these needed vaccines. It's always been a struggle because few donors or companies have been interested. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gift is a courageous and long overdue act to help the poorest," said Dr. Holmgren.

In addition to launching DOMI, the Institute will continue its involvement in the Bill & Melinda Gates Children's Vaccine Program (CVP). CVP is managed by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) in Seattle, Washington and is a $100 million fund to advance the introduction of existing vaccines that are not yet available in developing countries.

"We are pleased to have this opportunity to help develop these desperately needed vaccines. We first became aware of the International Vaccine Institute while helping to establish the CVP. We think it is a sorely needed venture, and we're pleased to have resources to help the Institute achieve its mission," said Mr. William H. Gates, Sr., father of Bill Gates, and Co-chairman of the Foundation.

The International Vaccine Institute is a new independent International Organization set up under an international treaty. Its headquarters are in Seoul. The Institute is the only international research center devoted to vaccines for poor countries. It is headed by Dr. John D. Clemens, an internationally known research physician recently recruited from the U.S. National Institutes of Health. South Korea is the host country for the Institute and is making generous contributions of its own. It is contributing a modern laboratory building worth some $40 million and provides 30 percent of the annual operating budget. For more about the International Vaccine Institute you can visit the website.