TB research funds “to triple”

(March 06)

“During this next period, we'll triple what we've spent [on TB]”, Bill Gates announced at the prestigious annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month. “In the past, [the Gates Foundation] has spent US$ 300 million… So we'll spend, during this period, over US$ 900 million…

That's money that goes to partners like the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, that's already got some candidates pretty far along. And then the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation, which if that was fully successful, would really change the disease in a dramatic way” Gates said. His statement refers to the next decade, 2006-15, of the new Global Plan to Stop TB, announced at the same meeting by Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership. The Plan appeals for US$ 56 billion over the next 10 years, of which US$ 9 billion would be investment in research and development for new drugs, diagnostics and vaccines.

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