Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Sign up for Axios NW Arkansas
Stay up-to-date on the most important and interesting stories affecting NW Arkansas, authored by local reporters
Gates speaks at a 2015 dinner. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Bill Gates today announced a $12 million "Grand Challenge" to boost the development of a universal flu vaccine, as part of efforts to create a global pandemic response system.
Why it matters: Gates says world leaders need to prepare for the next global pandemic — whether it originates from a bioterrorist attack, new flu viral outbreak or other pathogen — which could have the potential to kill nearly 33 million people in six months, Gates says.
“We can’t predict when. But given the continual emergence of new pathogens, the increasing risk of a bioterror attack, and how connected our world is through air travel, there is a significant probability of a large and lethal, modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.”— Bill Gates giving the New England Journal of Medicine Shattuck Lecture in Boston
The seed money: The Grand Challenge is starting with $12 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Google co-founder Larry Page and his wife, Lucy. As Gates told STAT, the money is just the start of what will be needed. Normal vaccines cost roughly $1 billion to develop, test and manufacture, but one as complex as a universal vaccine will likely cost more, STAT writes.
Universal flu vaccine: Gates says a universal flu vaccine is needed to prevent another outbreak like the Flu of 1918, which killed 50 million people worldwide.
- Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci told Axios in mid-February that one of his highest priorities is to develop a universal flu vaccine.
- Senator Ed Markey introduced the Flu Vaccine Act in mid-February that would invest a total $1 billion in the vaccine.
Other methods to prepare: The next pandemic may not necessarily be from a new flu virus strain, he says, and other methods to respond may be needed. So researchers are experimenting in other areas, he says, such as other antivirals, monoclonal antibody therapies, RNA and gene delivery systems, rapid diagnoses using CRISP-R, and the power of computing and big data analysis.
U.S. role: Gates called upon the U.S. to play a leadership role in creating a pandemic response system. "The world needs to prepare for pandemics, the way it prepares for war," Gates adds.