Bill and Melinda Gates Pledge US$10 Billion in Call for Decade of Vaccines

DAVOS, Switzerland, January 29 - Bill and Melinda Gates announced today that their foundation will commit
US$10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop and deliver
vaccines for the world's poorest countries.

(Photo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100129/DC45704)

The Gateses said that increased investment in vaccines by governments and
the private sector could help developing countries dramatically reduce child
mortality by the end of the decade, and they called for others to help fill
critical financing gaps in both research funding and childhood immunization
programs.

"We must make this the decade of vaccines," said Bill Gates. "Vaccines
already save and improve millions of lives in developing countries.
Innovation will make it possible to save more children than ever before."

Bill and Melinda Gates made their announcement at the World Economic
Forum's Annual Meeting, where they were joined by Julian Lob-Levyt, CEO of
the GAVI Alliance.

"Vaccines are a miracle — with just a few doses, they can prevent deadly
diseases for a lifetime," said Melinda Gates. "We've made vaccines our
number-one priority at the Gates Foundation because we've seen firsthand
their incredible impact on children's lives."

The foundation used a model developed by a consortium led by the
Institute of International Programs at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health to project the potential impact of vaccines on childhood deaths
over the next 10 years.

By significantly scaling up the delivery of life-saving vaccines in
developing countries to 90 percent coverage — including new vaccines to
prevent severe diarrhea and pneumonia — the model suggests that we could
prevent the deaths of some 7.6 million children under 5 from 2010-2019. The
foundation also estimates that an additional 1.1 million children could be
saved with the rapid introduction of a malaria vaccine beginning in 2014,
bringing the total number of potential lives saved to 8.7 million.

If additional vaccines are developed and introduced in this decade –
such as for tuberculosis — even more lives could be saved.

The new funding announced today is in addition to the US$4.5 billion that
the Gates Foundation has already committed to vaccine research, development
and delivery to date across its entire disease portfolio since its inception.

Public-Private Partnerships Drive Progress in Vaccine Development,
Delivery

Bill and Melinda Gates said their pledge was inspired by the remarkable
progress made on vaccines in recent years. For example:

    - Record-breaking vaccine access: New WHO data show that global
      vaccination rates have reached all-time highs, rebounding from years of
      decline in the 1990s. Between 2000 and 2009, the percentage of children
      receiving the basic DTP3 vaccine in the poorest countries of the world
      jumped from 66 percent to 79 percent, the highest on record. The number
      of people who died of measles worldwide fell by 77 percent between 2000
      and 2008, and in Africa, measles deaths fell by 92 percent.

    - Improved routine immunization: Partnerships focused on reducing
      diseases like polio and measles are also helping build a stronger
      foundation for the delivery of both new and existing vaccines. Trained
      health workers, proper cold chain function, and surveillance are all
      necessary to ensure vaccines reach every child who needs them.

    - New vaccine introduction: Important new vaccines for the two leading
      causes of global child deaths -- severe diarrhea and pneumonia -- are
      becoming available. Research published this week in The New England
      Journal of Medicine shows that introducing a rotavirus vaccine in South
      Africa and Malawi reduced severe diarrhea caused by the virus by more
      than 60 percent.

    - R&D momentum: The vaccine research and development pipeline is more
      robust than ever. Late-stage trials have begun on a promising vaccine
      to protect children from malaria, and a new vaccine to prevent
      meningitis outbreaks in Africa is likely to be introduced this year.

Many of the recent advances in vaccine development and delivery have been
driven by public-private partnerships such as the GAVI Alliance and the
Rotavirus Vaccine Program at PATH, which coordinate the resources and
expertise of vaccine companies, donors, UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, and
developing countries. Mr. Gates said these partnerships are "transforming the
business of vaccines."

The GAVI Alliance — launched at the World Economic Forum 10 years ago
this week — has reached 257 million additional children with new and
underused vaccines, and prevented 5 million future deaths. In the coming
years, GAVI will focus on rapidly introducing vaccines to tackle diarrhea and
pneumonia.

"Investments in global immunization have yielded an extraordinary
return," said Julian Lob-Levyt. "The GAVI Alliance was founded just 10 years
ago and has already saved 5 million lives by increasing access to
immunization in the world's poorest countries. The potential to make bigger
strides in the coming decade is even more exciting."

Increased Commitments Critical to Future Success

Today's commitment will support a broad spectrum of vaccine-related
activities, from basic research to innovations in delivery. However, billions
more are needed from other donors to achieve the goal of 90 percent coverage
of childhood immunization. Critical funding gaps exist at GAVI and in the
global polio and measles programs, and more support is needed for the
research and development necessary to produce new vaccines.

Speakers at the press conference underscored the need for major new
funding from donors, governments and the private sector to:

    - Rapidly scale immunization programs in order to reach all those in need

    - Conduct the laboratory research and clinical trials needed to create
      new vaccines

    - Introduce life-saving new vaccines for pneumonia and severe diarrhea,
      as well as other promising vaccines currently in the development
      pipeline

    - Ensure a steady market for vaccines in developing countries, and an
      adequate supply from manufacturers

Commenting on the announcement, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said,
"The Gates Foundation's commitment to vaccines is unprecedented, but just a
small part of what is needed. It's absolutely crucial that both governments
and the private sector step up efforts to provide life-saving vaccines to
children who need them most."

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
Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill
and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Live webcast and replay will be available at
www.livestream.com/worldeconomicforum

Video replay will be also be available at
www.livestream.com/worldeconomicforum/videos

Multimedia: To access various video clips, B-roll, still photos and other
available resources, you may go to the foundation's Newsmarket link
www.gatesfoundation.org/press-room/Pages/news-market.aspx and click on
"multimedia presspacks."

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA
Photowire. It can be downloaded from www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or
viewed at www.mediapoint.press.net or www.prnewswire.co.uk.

London: Alex Reid, +44(0)7912-242-416, ALReid at WeberShandwick.com, New York: Andrew Shih, +1-212-584-5012, ashih at corkerygroup.com, both for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; or Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, +1-206-709-3400, media at gatesfoundation.org