ProFound Therapeutics (Flagship Pioneering company, Cambridge, Massachusetts) announced Thursday August 27, 2026 an investment commitment of up to $35 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for preeclampsia and eclampsia drug target and biomarker discovery. Structure: $20 million upfront plus $15 million tied to experimental milestones. ProFound will apply its ProFoundry platform (a proteomics-scale discovery engine that identifies previously undetected proteins from tissue and serum) and its agentic AI tooling to placental tissue and serum samples from women with the conditions in search of first-in-class protein drug targets and biomarkers. Preeclampsia affects roughly 5-8% of pregnancies globally and remains a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality; there are currently no approved disease-modifying drugs. The Gates commitment continues the foundation's pattern of directing capital toward maternal health gaps that private capital has under-served.
The 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) pre-conference sessions open Sunday July 26, 2026 at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with PATH, WHO, and Unitaid programming focused on 'Advancing HIV Prevention Science and Access' between 08:00-13:00 local time. Twice-yearly lenacapavir (Gilead's Yeztugo, FDA-approved June 2025) has been deployed in 10 priority sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa (Secunda, Mpumalanga launch by President Cyril Ramaphosa on June 5, 2026), Zambia, and Eswatini through PEPFAR and Global Fund investments. Generic versions from Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Hetero Labs, and four other manufacturers are expected in 2027 at approximately $40 per person per year following Gates Foundation and Unitaid partnership announcements in September 2025 (compared to the current US Yeztugo list price of approximately $28,218 per person per year). The main conference opens Monday July 27 with the UNAIDS 'United to End AIDS' report release providing 2025 HIV data and the WHO's first global mid-term assessment of progress under the Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections (marking the halfway point to the 2030 targets). Up to 10,000 attendees are expected in person and virtually across the seven-day program running through Friday July 31. Conference theme: 'Rethink. Rebuild. Rise.'