The Gates Foundation is spending $40 million on countries in Africa and other economically backward nations to produce new mRNA vaccines in efforts to prevent against diseases like tuberculosis and malaria.
On Monday, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced $40 million in funding to “advance access to mRNA research and vaccine manufacturing technology that will support low-and middle-income countries’ (LMICs) capacity to develop high-quality, lifesaving vaccines at scale,” according to an Oct. 9 press release. The $40 million will be spent on boosting access to a low-cost mRNA research and manufacturing platform developed by Belgium-based Quantoom Biosciences.