FIVE COUNTRIES JOIN GATES FOUNDATION TO BUY VACCINES FOR THE THIRD WORLD

Five countries and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have committed $1.5 billion to supply children in the world's poorest nations with new vaccines for pneumococcal disease.

The collaboration, called the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for Pneumococcal Vaccines, will guarantee funding to encourage quick vaccine development and sufficient supply, the foundation said. The money will also provide seven to 10 years of funding to purchase the new vaccines and support their availability in poor countries.

The AMC could provide enough vaccines to save the lives of 5.4 million children by 2030, according to the foundation.

The Gates Foundation pledged $50 million to the AMC, joining commitments from Italy ($635 million), Britain ($485 million), Canada ($200 million), Russia ($80 million) and Norway ($50 million).

Wyeth, maker of Prevnar, the only pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, applauded the AMC, as did GlaxoSmithKline, which is developing its own vaccine candidate that includes three serotypes specifically designed for the developing world.

The World Health Organization will review the quality and safety of the AMC vaccines, and the AMC will only provide vaccines to countries that ask for them, the foundation said.