14 DAY TRIAL // Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation offered $75 million dollars for the development of a cheap vaccine against pneumonia, the main cause for most of the infant death across the world.
The money went to PATH, a Seattle-based non-profit group which aims to increase people's wellbeing worldwide. "We're hoping to be a catalyst to encourage scientists and manufacturers to take a different approach to this problem," said Dr. John Boslego, PATH's new chief of vaccine development.
Pneumonia, a disease which kills at least 1 million children every year, is often not properly diagnosed and seldom received care like the ones infected with AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. Children in the United States and Europe are vaccinated against the most common bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, but the vaccine does not protect against other strains found in developing countries were 90% of deaths occur.
The current vaccine, which costs from $40 to $60, can not be afforded by people in poor countries who survive with a dollar a day or sometimes less, fact that justifies Gate's demand for a affordable solution. Dr. Regina Rabinovich, director of the infectious disease program at Gates Foundation, said that making the vaccine, which should cost less than $5, is a difficult task.
According to her statement, there are 90 different pneumococcal strains and the current vaccine covers only 7. "We will first want to identify the common proteins," Boslego said, mentioning that after this step, the proteins will be modified so that these match the precise strains of any given region.