Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - October 9, 2007
Marilyn Chase, marilyn.chase@wsj.com
While other philanthropies and government entities have dabbled in backing offbeat medical experiments, the Gates initiative is among the richest and most ambitious donor-backed programs of this kind.
The initiative follows two disappointments in large trials whose results were reported recently. The trials showed that the cervical diaphragm and a vaccine developed by Merck & Co. failed to prevent infection with the AIDS virus. If the new tack by the world's biggest private charity bears fruit, it could pave the way for similar moves by other grant providers.
The Grand Challenges Explorations program, to be announced in Cape Town, South Africa, will reach out to scientists in Africa and Asia, where disease is widespread and money is scarce, though it will be open to all comers. "Talent is grouped in great institutions, but not all of it," Mr. Gates said in an interview. "There's a real logic to being where a disease exists."
Typical multimillion-dollar Gates Foundation grants require lengthy applications supported by data, financial oversight and peer review often taking six months to a year or more -- which can overwhelm scientists in underdeveloped countries. "As grants get big, the risk element can get squeezed out," Mr. Gates said, adding "if you're giving away $5 million at a whack," it requires accounting oversight and a mature development plan at odds with novelty.
The new streamlined program will use a shorter application form, and the review will take a few months. Grantees whose concepts prove promising can later apply for additional funding. Given the current atmosphere of fiscal constraint at the National Institutes of Health, where grants tend to favor traditional science, "the Gates program is a welcome move toward trying to fund new and high-risk ideas," said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH. He added that the NIH itself has been trying to address the need to support novelty through its Pioneer Awards.
As a secondary goal, Mr. Gates said he hopes his foundation's new grants will encourage scientists in developing countries to stay at home rather than emigrating.
The family philanthropy of the Microsoft Corp. co-founder and his wife boasts an endowment of $34.6 billion. So far, it has committed $13.7 billion in grants, with $7.95 billion going to global health programs addressing AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and childhood vaccines.
Investor Warren Buffett's 2006 pledge of $31 billion of his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. fortune to the Gates Foundation will eventually double the pace of annual grant giving to $3 billion by 2009. Now, having funded many biomedical projects, Gates officials are looking to refill the pipeline with novel ideas.
"New ideas shouldn't have to battle for oxygen as hard as they do," said Tadataka "Tachi" Yamada, the foundation's executive director of global health. He points out that one "ludicrous" challenge to conventional wisdom -- the idea that bacteria and not stomach acid caused ulcers -- eventually won a Nobel Prize and changed the standard of medical care.
One example Mr. Gates cited was the foundation's sponsorship of a program that uses radiation to zap malaria parasites in their invasive stage, known as sporozoites. "Most people look at that and say, 'Whoa, this is pretty wild,' " Mr. Gates said.
Previous Gates grants have gone to more-mature research projects in malaria, AIDS and TB prevention. Refilling the epidemic-prevention pipeline has become more urgent after the failures of the HIV-diaphragm study and Merck's vaccine.
A detailed call for proposals in the new endeavor is expected in the first quarter of 2008.
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