insulin-in-treating-diabetesA new investment fund structured by JPMorgan Chase and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will, for the first time, allow individual and institutional investors the opportunity to finance late-stage global health technologies that have the potential to save millions of lives in low-income countries.

With $94 million already committed by an international group of investors, the Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF) will invest in new drugs and vaccines, emerging diagnostic tools, and other applications that will help eliminate malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and infant mortality in low-income countries.

Although there are many current global health innovations in the pipeline, late-stage clinical trials are costly and development expenses are outpacing charitable support. Traditional investment capital can play a meaningful role in solving this problem, particularly when it is supplied by investors who include the expected social impact of their activities in their return calculations.

To help mitigate the risk of investing in the clinical development of new technologies, the Gates Foundation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency have committed to partially offset potential losses in the Fund, which will seek a financial return for investors by targeting high-impact technologies with public health applications in both developed and emerging markets.

Lion’s Head, a London-based asset manager specializing in sustainable development, will be responsible for originating, managing and exiting GHIF portfolio investments.

“This innovative fund is mobilizing financing for medical advances that could potentially save millions of lives,” said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. “It shows that we can align the needs of investors with the need for cures for diseases which cause so much suffering in developing countries.”

Bill Gates said, “We invest in global health because we know that when health improves, life improves by every measure.”

Learn more about the pioneering countries and organizations that have provided the initial fuel for the fund in the press release on Business Wire.

Thanks to Craig Withers for submitting the link!

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