More funding secured for Japanese health fund

The Japanese Global Health Innovative Technology fund has secured more than $200 million (£156m) over the next five years, including funding from the Wellcome Trust.

The GHIT is a public-private partnership launched in April 2013 that funds the development of medicine, vaccines and diagnostics to tackle infectious diseases including malaria and tuberculosis. It was created with an initial $100m funding from the Japanese government, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and several pharmaceutical companies.

These partners have now agreed to allocate a further $200 million to the GHIT’s second phase, according to a statement on 1 June. The GHIT described the agreement as a “significant vote of confidence”.