Wellcome agrees £45m partnership with Indian government
Supports development of large-scale affordable healthcare products
A £45m partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Indian government will support the development of innovative healthcare products at affordable costs.
This new initiative, announced in Delhi by David Willetts, UK minister of state for universities and science, builds on the existing Wellcome Trust-DBT Alliance, a five-year, £80m initiative, which aims to strengthen Indian biomedical sciences through a series of fellowship programmes.
The new ‘R&D for Affordable Healthcare’ initiative will support projects aimed at delivering safe and effective healthcare products on a large scale at affordable costs.
Researchers from both the public and private sectors, largely working in India, aim to develop innovative devices, diagnostics, medicines and vaccines that will reach the greatest numbers of people, without compromising on quality.
‘India offers a vibrant and growing biotechnology sector, with a wealth of scientific talent and a skilled workforce to support scientific innovation,’ said Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust.
‘India can make a huge contribution to solving its own healthcare needs and to global health efforts. The Wellcome Trust is delighted to partner with DBT to fund the development of affordable healthcare solutions.’
The Indian Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Wellcome Trust are each contributing £22.5m. The resulting five-year fund will be used to support the development of healthcare products that will benefit India, as well as having application for other low- and middle-income countries.
The new initiative follows successful piloting of the concept by the Wellcome Trust, which has a number of awards in the pipeline in areas such as cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis and ophthalmology.