Mark Zuckerberg has donated $25 million that will be used to research a cure for the virus, Business insider informs us. The American site Recode reports that the donation was made through the philanthropic enterprise of Facebook boss and his wife, Priscilla Chan, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). It was donated to "COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator", a fund set up by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, bringing the total donation received to $125 million. This is CZI's largest donation to any other charity.

In a note posted on the foundation's website, Mark Suzman, its new head, explains: "The money will be used to identify potential treatments for Covid-19, accelerate their development and prepare for the manufacture of millions of doses for use around the world. "While noting that "the expertise of the pharmaceutical companies will be essential to this endeavour," he stresses the need for a rapid solution.

 The ultimate goal is to find a cure in a much shorter time frame than is usually needed to develop a vaccine. The millions donated by Mark Zuckerberg's foundation will therefore either help develop a new vaccine to fight the virus or expand research into existing drugs (such as chloroquine, for example).

Source: digitalbusiness.africa