The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 15 announced it would donate $50 million to the Beijing-based Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI) over five years.
The funds will support the development of drugs for infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria, that disproportionately affect people living in low and middle-income countries, thus working to improve global health, the foundation said.
A non-profit research organization in China, the GHDDI was jointly founded by the foundation, Tsinghua University and the Beijing municipal government in 2016.
The municipal government will provide financial support of the same scale, and Tsinghua University has pledged continued support for research platforms, achievement transformations and talent training.
Ding Sheng, head of the GHDDI and a professor at Tsinghua University, said the new round of financial and professional support is of great significance as the center aims to tackle global health challenges by accelerating new drug development.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
