Melinda Gates

Adimab Provides 2022 Update on Clinical Pipeline

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 11, 2023

This brings the total number of Adimab partner programs that have entered the clinic to 62.

Key Points: 
  • This brings the total number of Adimab partner programs that have entered the clinic to 62.
  • Partners have recently filed for BLA approval on three additional programs and another three programs are currently in pivotal trials.
  • “Over the last five years alone, partners have initiated clinical trials for 52 new programs.
  • Bispecifics and T-cell engagers: Adimab has extensive bispecific and multispecific capabilities, including common light chain and fragment-based discovery and engineering.

Hevolution Foundation Appoints William Greene, MD as Chief Investment Officer

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Hevolution Foundation , a non-profit organization that provides grants and early-stage investments to incentivize research and entrepreneurship in healthspan science, has appointed William Greene, MD, as Chief Investment Officer (CIO).

Key Points: 
  • Hevolution Foundation , a non-profit organization that provides grants and early-stage investments to incentivize research and entrepreneurship in healthspan science, has appointed William Greene, MD, as Chief Investment Officer (CIO).
  • As CIO, Dr Greene will oversee all aspects of Hevolution Foundation’s investment strategy, planning, analysis, and execution.
  • “After conducting a thorough search process, and working closely with Bill for over six months, I could not be more pleased to officially welcome him to Hevolution,” commented Mehmood Khan, MD, Chief Executive Officer.
  • He also served as founding Chairman of the Board and head of the Investment Committee at the Global Health Investment Fund, an impact-oriented venture fund founded with the Gates Foundation.

LumiraDx Announces New Investment for Ongoing Development of its Point of Care Molecular Tuberculosis Test

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 14, 2022

LONDON, Dec. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LumiraDx Limited (Nasdaq: LMDX), a next-generation point of care diagnostics company, today announced it has received $14.2M in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for ongoing development of its point of care molecular tuberculosis (TB) testing system.

Key Points: 
  • LONDON, Dec. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LumiraDx Limited (Nasdaq: LMDX), a next-generation point of care diagnostics company, today announced it has received $14.2M in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for ongoing development of its point of care molecular tuberculosis (TB) testing system.
  • The LumiraDx molecular TB test is designed to fill these gaps and needs in the TB testing market and significantly increase access to testing.
  • The LumiraDx Platform, is the only point of care instrument that supports both molecular and immunoassay technologies.
  • The TB test is the first molecular test the company has developed for the point of care Platform.

RIGImmune Announces New Funding to Advance Development of RNA Virus Treatments

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 7, 2022

FARMINGTON, Conn., Dec. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RIGImmune Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of RNA immunotherapeutics, today announced new funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the company’s RNA stem loop therapeutics platform for the treatment and adjuvancy of respiratory illnesses caused by RNA viruses. RIGImmune is one of the first development companies to receive an Accelerator Program-Related Investment (“PRI”) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund. This new funding is additional to a Gates Foundation grant award that RIGImmune received last year to initiate its work in targeting its stem loop molecules for influenza to create broad spectrum host targeted antivirals.

Key Points: 
  • RIGImmune is one of the first development companies to receive an Accelerator Program-Related Investment (“PRI”) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund .
  • This new funding is additional to a Gates Foundation grant award that RIGImmune received last year to initiate its work in targeting its stem loop molecules for influenza to create broad spectrum host targeted antivirals.
  • There is a significant and urgent unmet global medical need for the development of broad-spectrum antivirals against respiratory viruses.
  • The lead development candidate at RIGImmune is RIG-101 and the company is developing an intranasal formulation with the acquisition of antiviral company Subintro.

YR Media Receives Transformative Grant to Expand Post-Pandemic Support for Young BIPOC Content Creators and Grow its National Presence

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 14, 2022

The organization will also use the new grant to continue to provide students and youth content creators with on-site and virtual support.

Key Points: 
  • The organization will also use the new grant to continue to provide students and youth content creators with on-site and virtual support.
  • We are beyond grateful to the team at Pivotal for their ongoing support and partnership to make this a reality.
  • In April 2022, YR Media announced a high-impact grant , which allowed the non-profit organization to begin plans to expand its Chicago-based virtual program, and provide on-site and virtual mental health and wellness support to content creators.
  • YR Media (formerly Youth Radio), is an award-winning leading media, technology, and music training center and platform for emerging BIPOC content creators, who use their voices to change the world.

Vaxart Announces Collaborative Funding from Leading Foundation to Study Its Norovirus Vaccine Candidate in Breastfeeding Mothers

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 1, 2022

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Dec. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vaxart, Inc. (Nasdaq: VXRT) today announced it will commence a new study of Vaxart’s oral pill norovirus vaccine candidate focused on protecting breastfeeding mothers and their infants.

Key Points: 
  • The study will receive significant funding and support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation).
  • This funding follows Vaxarts previous collaboration with Duke University on a pre-clinical COVID-19 transmission study also funded by the Gates Foundation.
  • The study will examine whether Vaxarts vaccine candidate induces antibodies in the breast milk of lactating mothers and whether infants up to 6 months of age can acquire those antibodies.
  • Vaxart is also currently studying its norovirus vaccine candidate in a challenge study that will provide the vaccine 30 days before exposure to actual norovirus, and then determine whether people get infected or have severe gastroenteritis.

AGB Launches First-Ever Digital Toolkit to Augment Higher Education Governing Boards' Capacity to Oversee Equitable Student Success

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, November 15, 2022

WASHINGTON , Nov. 15, 2022  /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) announced today that it has launched the first-ever digital toolkit to equip higher education governing boards to proactively oversee equitable student success. AGB is the premier organization advocating strategic board governance in higher education.

Key Points: 
  • New AGB toolkit offers curated leadership principles, a responsibilities matrix, and a planning playbook to inspire governing boards to support equitable student success on campus.
  • WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB) announced today that it has launched the first-ever digital toolkit to equip higher education governing boards to proactively oversee equitable student success .
  • A board responsibilities matrix that describes the intersection of board duties and equitable student success efforts, and includes real-world examples.
  • AGB is the trusted resource for board members, chief executives, and key administrators on higher education governance and leadership.

Innovative Online Fitness Program "Vivo" Awarded NIH Grant for Prediabetes Study

Retrieved on: 
Monday, November 14, 2022

ATLANTA, Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivo ( teamvivo.com ) a unique virtual, live and interactive fitness program for people 55+, has been awarded a $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how its science-based training strategy and personalized online small-group format can improve muscle strength, blood sugar levels and adherence to a fitness program among older adults with prediabetes.

Key Points: 
  • ATLANTA, Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivo ( teamvivo.com ) a unique virtual, live and interactive fitness program for people 55+, has been awarded a $2.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how its science-based training strategy and personalized online small-group format can improve muscle strength, blood sugar levels and adherence to a fitness program among older adults with prediabetes.
  • The study is being conducted by Vivo and academic research partner Duke University.
  • The award was granted under the NIH's Fast-Track Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
    Program through the National Institute on Aging.
  • Vivo is a graduate of the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator, in partnership with Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company.

CHICAGO-BASED NONPROFIT HELPS DONORS GIVE AWAY $1 BILLION DOLLARS

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, October 6, 2022

CHICAGO, Oct. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Lever for Change, a Chicago-based nonprofit, has just hit a major milestone, reaching its goal of facilitating $1 billion in philanthropic grants by 2023, ahead of schedule. The money was awarded by donors to support and develop organizations solving some of the world's biggest problems.

Key Points: 
  • CHICAGO, Oct. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --Lever for Change, a Chicago-based nonprofit, has just hit a major milestone, reaching its goal of facilitating $1 billion in philanthropic grants by 2023, ahead of schedule.
  • The money was awarded by donors to support and develop organizations solving some of the world's biggest problems.
  • Lever for Change has just hit a major milestone, reaching its goal of facilitating $1 billion in philanthropic grants.
  • Kellogg Foundation, corporate funders such as the LEGO Foundation, as well as philanthropic advisors, and new and anonymous donors.

Outcomes Fund for Fevers: Financing Initiative to Test and Treat Fever in African Private Sector Launches at Clinton Global Initiative Meeting

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, September 20, 2022

OFF is a new performance-based financing initiative aimed at scaling fever testing, treatment, and digital reporting through the private sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

Key Points: 
  • OFF is a new performance-based financing initiative aimed at scaling fever testing, treatment, and digital reporting through the private sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • The initiative was announced by Dr. Chelsea Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting today during the Community Health session.
  • The private sector is the primary source of care for many children under five across sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Up to 60% of patients in countries like Nigeria, where 1 in 3 global malaria deaths occur, first seek care from private providers.