Bill Gates proposes $ 12 million to create a universal vaccine

Creating a vaccine that could protect all subtypes of the influenza virus worldwide is Bill Gates' challenge to scientists. In a speech at Boston's Mbadachusetts Medical Society, the founder of Microsoft said he wanted to support medical innovation, including the creation of a "broad coverage" vaccine.

Indeed, the main problem of the flu virus is its constant mutation capacity. The time of adaptation of the vaccines by the manufacturers is too short compared to the speed of mutation of the viruses, knowing that it can take up to 6 months between the creation of a new vaccine and its arrival on the market.

To overcome this problem, the richest man in the world wants to invest financially in research: he proposes 12 million dollars (10.3 million euros) to projects that will be selected . An attractive carrot in the form of financial aid that could greatly accelerate the improvement of vaccines by scientists.

In France, the flu killed 14,300 people in 2017

With a vaccine efficacy of only 26 % of people at risk (children under 5, pregnant women, elderly), the flu has killed more than 14,300 people in France, in 2017, according to the agency Public Health France.

Mortality from H1N1 and Ebola outbreaks shocked the international scene and allowed scientists to realize that health systems were not prepared for such a scenario. "Our local health systems have simply collapsed," said Bill Gates, "people were dying because we were not ready." The world must prepare for pandemics in the same way it prepares for the war ".

A valid prototype by 2021?

The entrepreneur's financial boost will take the form of individual scholarships ranging from $ 250,000 to $ 2 million over two years. The selected epidemiologists will have to propose a valid and effective prototype in the animal by 2021 which protects against all the subtypes of two main viruses: Influenza A and B.

Additional Challenge: The immunity delivered by the vaccine should be 3 to 5 years (against only a few months for current vaccines). If scientists pbad this first step, an additional $ 10 million can be added to the pot to continue the development of the vaccine.

The universal vaccine, considered as one of the Grails of medicine, could thus make it possible to do without annual injections, not always effective.

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