The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and two other large charities pledged up to $US125 million ($A190 million) to help speed the development of treatments for the fast-spreading coronavirus, which the World Health Organisation says is nearing pandemic proportions.
The effort, known as the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, will focus on new and repurposed drugs that can be used right away to treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus and possibly other viruses in the future.
The money is intended to ensure that treatments for the virus will be available in poor countries and affordable for individuals.