Gates and EU look to boost R&D collaboration

Philanthropist talked to European Investment Bank and politicians about priorities including malaria and clean energy

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has met top-level politicians and officials in Brussels to discuss ways of boosting collaboration between EU programmes and the not-for-profit Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he co-chairs, as well as the company Breakthrough Energy Ventures that he presides over as chairman.

Gates met European Investment Bank president Werner Hoyer on 9 October. According to the EIB, they talked about combining philanthropic and public financing, including through an initiative called the EU Malaria Fund. Due to launch by the end of 2019, this fund is intended to “finance companies leading [the] development of new malaria tools”, the EIB said. The bank is leading on the fund and said the Gates foundation had expressed its intention to participate.