Gates Foundation provides $120M for COVID-19 drug in LICs

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a commitment of up to $120 million to accelerate access to the investigational antiviral drug Molnupiravir for lower-income countries (LICs) as part of its COVID-19 response effort. The funding will be allocated based on consultations with partners, and will support the range of activities required to develop and manufacture generic versions of the drug, which is being developed by Merck & Co in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. This commitment builds on the foundation’s ongoing efforts, including $1.9 billion in funding, since the start of the pandemic to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests by supporting R&D, regulatory work, at-risk manufacturing, and product delivery. Molnupiravir would be the first oral outpatient drug authorised for use in treating COVID-19 patients with mild and moderate disease, a critical breakthrough to prevent hospitalisations and save lives in combination with increased vaccination coverage and existing treatments for severely and critically ill patients.