Bill Gates Announced Funding for Covid-19 Medicine

Bill Gates announced funding for the Covid-19 medicine. The amount of the fund was stated to be 120 million dollars.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said millions of Merck & Co.'s promising Covid-19 drug will begin shipping to low-income countries early next year. The foundation announced that $120 million in funding has been allocated to expand global access to treatment. Trevor Mundel, head of the Gates Foundation's global health unit, noted that the funds will support generic drug manufacturers, some of whom have recorded as many as 10 million drugs per month. Noting that regulatory barriers and other challenges need to be resolved, Mundel added that these drug manufacturers could start shipping in the first quarter of the year. Mundel said, "There can be deviations and delays on this, yes, but that's what we aim to do. There's a lot of capacity, but the question is when will that be done." Included in the drug's progress are concerns that low-income nations may once again be left behind when it comes to treatments to gain access to Covid-19 vaccines. The foundation is calling on other donors to raise funds to speed up shipping to poor countries if Merck's experimental molnupiravir drug is approved.