GHIT Fund Secures USD 24 Million Pledge From Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Over Three Years

TOKYO, May 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund announced today that it has secured a pledge from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of USD 24 million (approximately JPY 3.2 billion^*2) over three years for GHIT Fund's third five-year plan, GHIT 3.0 (from FY2023 to FY2027^*1).

Since its inception in 2013, the GHIT Fund has been investing in new product development and committed to portfolio management to contribute to global health, supporting Japanese technology and innovation to combat infectious diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which affect the world's vulnerable and underserved populations. In April 2023, the 10^th anniversary of its founding, GHIT aims to streamline and accelerate research and development for malaria, tuberculosis, NTDs and other infectious diseases.

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been supporting the GHIT Fund as a critical partner since its inception. We are grateful for their financial contribution and look forward to working together to find solutions to the challenges in global health," said Dr. Osamu Kunii, CEO of GHIT Fund.

Katey Owen, director of neglected tropical diseases and director, vaccine development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: "Over the past nine years, our relationship with GHIT has evolved and expanded. What started as an investment to test a new R&D financing mechanism has proved its innovative model and become a pioneering model for others to follow. We're delighted to continue this relationship over the next three years, with a renewed focus on the impact GHIT can make within the global health landscape."

As of March 30, 2023, there are 53 ongoing projects, including 26 discovery, 15 preclinical and 12 clinical trials in the GHIT portfolio. The total amount invested since 2013 is JPY 29.1 billion (approx. USD 217 million). The GHIT Fund has 170 partners (59 domestic and 111 overseas) that have participated in product development to date, and the number of Japanese and overseas institutions has dramatically increased over the past 10 years.

The GHIT Fund is a Japan-based international public-private partnership fund (PPP) that was formed between the Government of Japan, multiple pharmaceutical companies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The GHIT Fund invests and manages an R&D portfolio of development partnerships aimed at addressing neglected diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases, which afflict the world's vulnerable and underserved populations. In collaboration with global partners, the GHIT Fund mobilizes Japanese industry, academia, and research institutes to create new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases.
https://www.ghitfund.org/en

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a US-based foundation established in 2000. Since 2006, the foundation also benefits from Warren Buffett's support. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private foundation in the world, works with grantees and partner organizations across the globe to address critical health and development priorities – from infectious disease to agricultural development and financial services – to benefit the world's poorest people.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is guided by the belief that every life has equal value. It works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, the foundation focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. Its approach to grantmaking emphasizes collaboration, innovation, risk-taking and results. The foundation has six divisions: global health, global development, gender equality, global growth and opportunities, global policy and advocacy, and US Program.

Official website: www.gatesfoundation.org

For more information, contact:
Katy Lenard at +1-301-280-5719 or [email protected] 
Eriko Mugitani at +81-36441-2032 or [email protected]

¹  From April 2023 to March 2028
²  USD 1 = JPY 134.14, the approximate exchange rate on April 28, 2023.

SOURCE Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund