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Gates Foundation Celebrates 20 Years of “Grand Challenges” With New Investments and a Call to Make R&D Breakthroughs Available More Quickly and Equitably
Commitments focus on advancing equitable access to artificial intelligence (AI) and vaccines, and catalyzing innovations that address women’s health
SEATTLE and DAKAR, Senegal, Oct. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A slate of new initiatives to support locally led innovation was announced today in Dakar by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partners at the Grand Challenges Annual Meeting. The investments come with an urgent call for countries to step up funding to make the research and development (R&D) of health and development innovations easier and faster, and to make the next generation of scientific and technological breakthroughs relevant and accessible to all.
Data shows that while overall health R&D funding is increasing, only about 2% is directed toward diseases that affect the world’s poorest people. In 2020, the annual funding gap for product development targeting poverty-related and neglected diseases was estimated at US$2.6 billion.
“Over the past two decades, global investments in a pipeline of innovative solutions helped reduce childhood deaths under 5 by half,” said Moussa Balde, Senegal’s minister for higher education, research and innovation. “But lifesaving innovations still take too long to reach those who need them and are not always designed with equity from the start. Grand Challenges Senegal continues to invest in the country’s brightest scientists and innovators, and we are pleased to be part of this global network of Grand Challenges partners investing in locally led solutions to ensure innovations, including in health, education, and agriculture, benefit everyone equally.”
Launched in 2003, Grand Challenges, the foundation’s flagship innovation program, focuses attention and funding on pressing global health and development problems that affect the world’s poorest people, using open calls for proposals to crowdsource potential solutions.
In an address to the more than 1,400 scientists, policymakers, and donors attending the annual meeting, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, called for the world to spend at least US$3 billion more every year on global health and development R&D in order to close the critical gaps in funding for neglected diseases.
“New health technologies have the potential to save millions of lives, but R&D funding is going in the wrong direction,” said Gates. “Donors need to step up their commitments to ensure health innovations reach those who need them more quickly, so more lives can be saved.”
Today, Gates announced that the foundation is investing US$30 million to support a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform in Africa. The platform will provide African scientists and innovators with the technical and operational support they need to turn promising ideas into scalable health and development solutions. It is a step towards ensuring the benefits of AI are relevant, affordable, and accessible to everyone—particularly those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)—and that these critical tools are developed safely, ethically, and equitably. The foundation will continue to work closely with technical partners and governments to further advance the platform and identify opportunities to jointly advance the use of AI for health and development.
Yesterday, the foundation also announced new investments aimed at expanding access to a novel mRNA vaccine manufacturing platform that gives countries, including Senegal and South Africa, the technology to develop and manufacture their own vaccines. mRNA technology is considered a potential game-changer for a range of infectious diseases, including tuberculosis, malaria, and Lassa fever, which disproportionately affect people in LMICs. This additional local vaccine manufacturing capacity will support LMICs to develop low-cost, high-quality vaccines that address their most urgent health priorities.
“What started as a single program funded by the Gates Foundation and its partners has grown into a family of initiatives and partnerships across national borders, fields of study, and sectors that catalyze research, products, and partnerships to save and improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people,” said Kedest Tesfagiorgis, deputy director, global partnerships and Grand Challenges at the foundation. “Our community of brilliant innovators is proof that a great idea can come from anywhere and be supported by the funders, policymakers, and advocates needed to move ideas into the laboratory and, ultimately, to the people who can most benefit from them.”
Grand Challenges is supported by the governments of India, China, Brazil, the United States, and Canada, as well as a growing number of countries in Africa, including Ethiopia, Rwanda, Senegal, and South Africa. Since 2003, partners have invested US$1.6 billion to support more than 3,800 projects in 118 countries—from new strategies to improve gut health in moms and children to reinventing the toilet for improved sanitation to reimagining drug discovery research for malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases.
To further support scientists developing cutting-edge innovations in LMICs, the foundation and its partners also issued new calls for proposals in the following areas:
- Equitable AI for health in LMICs. Building on a recent Grand Challenge (GC) to develop global health and development solutions in LMICs using AI-enabled large language models (LLMs), GC partners issued a request for proposals of up to US$5.5 million to help advance the development of robust, locally relevant, AI-empowered tools to expedite decision-making, policy pathways, and implementation by frontline health workers and policymakers. The call is led by GC Brazil, GC India, GC Ethiopia, GC Senegal, GC South Africa, and GC Africa, with support from GC Canada, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, the Pasteur Network, and the Gates Foundation.
- Women’s health R&D to unlock the potential of half the world’s population and unleash a powerful engine for progress. The Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map 2023 is a new report outlining 50 equitable, high-return opportunities across the R&D continuum to maximize research and innovation, investments, and global action in women’s health. To encourage innovations and ideas laid out in the Opportunity Map, the foundation announced a new request for proposals that will provide up to US$3.6 million in funding.
- Innovations in global health and development across other critical areas of need. The full list of new requests for proposals can be found here.
The 2023 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting in Dakar is hosted by the Global Grand Challenges network of partners and the government of Senegal, and sponsored by Grand Challenges Canada, the United States Agency for International Development, Wellcome, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
About Grand Challenges
The Grand Challenges family of programs stems from a century-old idea that crowdsourcing solutions to a defined set of unsolved problems can spark innovation and accelerate progress. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its Grand Challenges funding partners first used Challenges—open requests for grant proposals—in 2003 to focus attention and effort on pressing global health and development problems for those most in need. Together, Grand Challenges partners have awarded US$1.6 billion across 3,800 grants to a diverse pool of problem solvers in 118 countries, while at the same time fostering a global innovation ecosystem in places where it will have the most impact. The foundation and its Grand Challenges partners will continue to launch RFPs to support innovators from around the world in tackling the hardest, most urgent Grand Challenges. To learn more, visit grandchallenges.org.
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, and the board of trustees.
Media contact: [email protected]
STOCKHOLM, April 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — EQT AB’s Q1 Announcement 2024 will be published on Thursday 18 April 2024 at approximately 07:30 CEST. EQT will host a conference call at 08:30 CEST to present the report, followed by a Q&A session.
The presentation and a video link for the webcast will be available here from the time of the publication of the Q1 Announcement.
To participate by phone and ask questions during the Q&A, please register here in advance. Upon registration, you will receive your personal dial-in details.
The webcast can be followed live here and a recording will be available afterwards.
Information on EQT AB’s financial reporting
The EQT AB Group has a long-term business model founded on a promise to its fund investors to invest capital, drive value creation and create consistent attractive returns over a 5 to 10-year horizon. The Group’s financial model is primarily affected by the size of its fee-generating assets under management, the performance of the EQT funds and its ability to recruit and retain top talent.
The Group operates in a market driven by long-term trends and thus believes quarterly financial statements are less relevant for investors. However, in order to provide the market with relevant and suitable information about the Group’s development, EQT publishes quarterly announcements with key operating numbers that are relevant for the business performance (taking Nasdaq’s guidance note for preparing interim management statements into consideration). In addition, a half-year report and a year-end report including financial statements and further information relevant for investors is published. Finally, EQT also publishes an annual report including sustainability reporting.
Contact
Olof Svensson, Head of Shareholder Relations, +46 72 989 09 15
EQT Shareholder Relations, [email protected]
Rickard Buch, Head of Corporate Communications, +46 72 989 09 11
EQT Press Office, [email protected], +46 8 506 55 334
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/invitation-to-presentation-of-eqt-ab-s-q1-announcement-2024,c3956826
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- Kia drives forward transformation into ‘Sustainable Mobility Solutions Provider’
- Roadmap enables Kia to proactively respond to uncertainties in mobility industry landscape, including changes in EV market
- Company to expand EV line-up with more models; enhance HEV line-up to manage fluctuation in EV demand
- Goal to sell 1.6 million EVs annually in 2030, introducing 15 models
- PBV to play a key role in Kia’s growth, targeting 250,000 PBV sales annually by 2030 with PV5 and PV7 models
- Kia to invest KRW 38 trillion by 2028, including KRW 15 trillion for future business
- 2024 business guidance : KRW 101 tln in revenue with KRW 12 tln in operating profit; operating profit margin of 11.9% on sales of 3.2 million units globally
- CEO reaffirms Kia’s commitment to ESG management
SEOUL, South Korea, April 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Kia Corporation (Kia) today shared an update on its future strategies and financial targets at its CEO Investor Day in Seoul, Korea.
Based on its innovative achievements in the years since the announcement of mid-to-long-term business initiatives, Kia is focusing on updating its 2030 strategy announced last year and further strengthening its business strategy in response to uncertainties across the global mobility industry landscape.
During the event, Kia updated its mid-to-long-term business strategy with a focus on electrification, and its PBV business. Kia reiterated its 2030 annual sales target of 4.3 million units, including 1.6 million units of electric vehicles (EVs). The 2030 4.3 million annual sales target is 34.4 percent higher than the brand’s 2024 annual goal of 3.2 million units.
The company also plans to become a leading EV brand by selling a higher percentage of electrified models among its total sales, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV), and battery EVs, projecting electrified model sales of 2.48 million units annually or 58 percent of Kia’s total sales in 2030.
“Following our successful brand relaunch in 2021, Kia is enhancing its global business strategy to further the establishment of an innovative EV line-up and accelerate the company’s transition to a sustainable mobility solutions provider,” said Ho Sung Song, President and CEO of Kia. “By responding effectively to changes in the mobility market and efficiently implementing mid-to-long-term strategies, Kia is strengthening its brand commitment to the wellbeing of customers, communities, the global society, and the environment.”
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VANCOUVER, BC, April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — BioVaxys Technology Corp. (CSE: BIOV) (FRA: 5LB) (OTCQB: BVAXF) (the “Company“) is providing this bi-weekly update on the status of the management cease trade order granted on February 29, 2024 (the “MCTO“), by its principal regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission (the “OSC“), under National Policy 12-203 – Management Cease Trade Orders (“NP 12-203“), following the Company’s announcement on February 21, 2024 (the “Default Announcement“), that it was unable to file its audited annual financial statements for the year ended October 31, 2023, its management’s discussion and analysis of financial statements for the year ended October 31, 2023, its annual information form for the year ended October 31, 2023, and related filings (collectively, the “Required Annual Filings“). Under National Instrument 51-102, the Required Annual Filings were required to be made no later than February 28, 2024.
As a result of the delay in filing the Required Annual Filings, the Company was unable to file its interim financial statements for the three months ended January 31, 2024, its management’s discussion and analysis of financial statements for the three months ended January 31, 2024, and related filings (collectively, the “Required Interim Filings“). Under National Instrument 51-102, the Required Interim Filings were required to be made no later than April 1, 2024.
The Company anticipates filing the Required Annual Filings by April 30, 2024. The auditor of the Company requires additional time to complete its audit of the Company, including the Company’s recent acquisition of all intellectual property, immunotherapeutics platform technologies, and clinical stage assets of the former IMV Inc. that closed on February 16, 2024. In addition, the Company anticipates filing the Required Interim Filings immediately after the filing of the Required Annual Filings.
Except as herein disclosed, there are no material changes to the information contained in the Default Announcement. In addition, (i) the Company is satisfying and confirms that it intends to continue to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines under NP 12-203 and issue bi-weekly default status reports for so long as the delay in filing the Required Annual Filings and/or Required Interim Filings is continuing, each of which will be issued in the form of a press release; (ii) the Company does not have any information at this time regarding any anticipated specified default subsequent to the default in filing the Required Annual Filings and Required Interim Filings; (iii) the Company is not subject to any insolvency proceedings; and (iv) there is no material information concerning the affairs of the Company that has not been generally disclosed.
About BioVaxys Technology Corp.
BioVaxys Technology Corp. (www.biovaxys.com), a biopharmaceuticals company registered in British Columbia, Canada, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving patient lives with novel immunotherapies based on the DPX™ immune-educating technology platform and it’s HapTenix© ‘neoantigen’ tumor cell construct platform, for treating cancers, infectious disease, antigen desensitization, and other immunological fields. The Company’s clinical stage pipeline includes maveropepimut-S which is in Phase II clinical development for advanced Relapsed-Refractory Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL) and platinum resistant ovarian cancer, and BVX-0918, a personalized immunotherapeutic vaccine using it proprietary HapTenix© ‘neoantigen’ tumor cell construct platform which is soon to enter Phase I in Spain for treating refractive late-stage ovarian cancer. The Company is also capitalizing on its tumor immunology know-how and creation of a unique library of T-lymphocytes & other datasets post-vaccination with its personalized immunotherapeutic vaccines to utilize predictive algorithms and other technologies to identify new targetable tumor antigens. BioVaxys common shares are listed on the CSE under the stock symbol “BIOV” and trade on the Frankfurt Bourse (FRA: 5LB) and in the US (OTCQB: BVAXF). For more information, visit www.biovaxys.com and connect with us on X and LinkedIn.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Signed “James Passin“
James Passin, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: +1 646 452 7054
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