Medicines for All receive $18.7 million grant for expansion of global access to lifesaving medication
Summary
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Virginia Commonwealth University-based research-related institute will use the grant to expand on its current capabilities of bringing lifesaving medications around the world, as well as working on 14 new global health projects.Tuberculosis has remained the second-leading cause of death among infectious disease over the last 3 years (with COVID-19 leading the list). Medicines for All has developed and delivered cost-saving methods for the pivoting of resources towards antiviral COVID-19 treatments such as Paxlovid, delivered cost reductions for malaria treatments and HIV retrovirals, and shown the impact of launching new targets at accessible prices for in-development drugs like those for tuberculosis.In close collaboration with the VUCs College of Engineering, the institute has utilised unique approaches to the pharmaceutical manufacturing process to develop cost-effective steps that reduce the final cost of the drug product. Our long-standing support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has enabled us to have an impact on the lives of people around the world, CEO of Medicines for All B. Frank Gupton, PhD, stated. The aim will be to lower the cost of projects for sponsors interested in supporting and working with Medicines for All on priority global health drug targets. Gary Tepper, PhD, interim Dean of the College of Engineering at VCU, commented: Watching Medicines for All grow into an organisation with such a significant impact is something were really proud of... From its early moments as part of the College of Engineering, Medicines for All has become a model for how to connect research with manufacturing, using partnerships between the public and private sectors to deliver affordable, quality medication.Medicines for All has been fortunate to realise a number of successes over the first 8 years of our work supported by the Gates Foundation, concluded Gupton.