Pfizer Commits $40M in Grants to Combat COVID-19 Pandemic

The Pfizer Foundation recently announced the commitment of $40 million in medical and charitable cash grants to help combat the global health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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The commitment will address the vital needs of partners actively working to slow the spread of the virus within communities and strengthen vulnerable health systems against future public health threats, the major pharmaceutical company stated.

Pfizer will also expand its US Patient Assistance Program in response to patient and provider needs alike. 

“We are in the midst of a global health crisis and understand the need for immediate and significant philanthropic and private sector contributions to help sustain local and global partners on the front lines of the pandemic response, with the goal of saving lives,” Caroline Roan, president of The Pfizer Foundation and vice president of global health & patient access of Pfizer, said in the announcement. 

“At Pfizer we believe it is our responsibility to help protect the most vulnerable from the disease and are putting the full weight of our resources behind our comprehensive COVID-19 response.” 

The foundation will donate critical medicines and vaccines, as well as  medical and charitable grants to support both domestic and global responses. 

Domestic efforts will provide emergency relief funds to government and health organizations to help address local COVID-19 health needs and non-profit community health organizations. The global response will focus on international non-governmental organizations and partners that support direct COVID-19 relief and longer-term health system improvements. 

Pfizer noted that it also provided more than $1 million in grant funding to its partners including Direct Relief, Project HOPE, and International Medical Corps. These funds will go to supporting access to necessary supplies for frontline healthcare workers and to aiding global recovery efforts.

An additional $5 million grant in funding will support educational research proposals that improve the recognition, diagnosis, treatment, and overall management of COVID-19 patients through its Global Medical Grants program. 

The biopharmaceutical company’s US Patient Assistance Program and Global COVID-19 Medical Service Program will tackle patient challenges by increasing supply during the quarantine and allow medical colleagues to give diagnostic, treatment, and public health support during the pandemic. 

Pfizer isn’t the only foundation working to combat COVID-19. In mid-March, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard launched an initiative to enhance drug discovery and  biologic accessto treat COVID-19 patients. 

The Gates Foundation and Wellcome contributed $50 million individually, while the Mastercard Impact Fund committed $25 million to launch the $125 million funded project, the COVID-19 Therapeutic Accelerator.

The COVID-19Therapeutics Accelerator will identify, assess, and scale-up treatments to make products available and affordable for vulnerable communities.

The initiative will draw on expertise from the World Health Organization (WHO), government and private sector funders and organizations, as well as the global regulatory and policy-setting institutions, to focus on pipeline development through manufacturing and scale. By sharing research, coordination, investment, and pooling resources, experts will enhance COVID-19 research. 

The Accelerator will screen thousands of compounds with safety data and consider new investigational compounds and monoclonal antibodies, the announcement stated. The drugs and monoclonal antibodies that pass initial screening will be developed by an industry partner.

“Viruses like COVID-19 spread rapidly, but the development of vaccines and treatments to stop them moves slowly. We believe we can help by partnering with private and philanthropic enterprises to lower the financial risk and technical barriers for biotech and pharmaceutical companies developing antivirals for COVID-19,” said Mark Suzman, chief executive officer of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“If we want to make people, particularly the most vulnerable, safer from outbreaks then we need to find a way to unwind this paradox: to speed up R&D and slow down the spread.”

Philanthropy has been a leading avenue for COVID-19 treatment and vaccine development. Major companies in and beyond the pharmaceutical industry are raising and donating money to key players who are developing potential cures for the rapidly spreading virus.