Novo Nordisk Foundation, Wellcome, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have announced a three-year, $300 million partnership to boost scientific research and development (R&D) regarding global health.

The partnership includes a $100 million commitment from each grantmaker to advance global health equity solutions, with a focus on advancing those that are accessible and affordable to people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The funding also will include direct support for researchers and institutions based in LMIC settings, including resources to advance locally relevant research agendas, strengthen R&D capacities, and scale equitable access to existing tools and technologies.

Initial funding will support climate and sustainability efforts, including advancing climate data, sustainable agriculture, and food systems; infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance, including advancing disease surveillance and developing vaccines for respiratory infections; and understanding the interplay between nutrition, immunity, cardiometabolic and other noncommunicable diseases, and developmental outcomes. The foundations also plan to expand the effort to include additional public and private partners.

“We face huge challenges to protecting and improving physical and mental health, compounded by vast inequities globally,” said Wellcome CEO John-Arne Røttingen. “Solutions will start in science. We’ve seen this throughout history, and we’ve lived first-hand through incredible advances to save and improve lives. In today’s complex world, health challenges increasingly overlap. We need global collaboration and cooperation more than ever to build healthier futures, and for society to thrive....By partnering with the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Gates Foundation, we can raise ambition, and combine resources and networks to find new ways to advance global health research—especially for those with greatest need.”

“We’re on the cusp of so many scientific breakthroughs in agriculture, health, and nutrition, and with the right support these innovations will save and improve lives around the world,” said Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman. “Every sector has a critical role to play, and we hope this collaboration opens the door for other funders and partners to contribute to scaling up existing innovations and developing the tools of tomorrow.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Hispanolistic)