McCormick professors Linda J. Broadbelt and Keith E.J. Tyo have won a grant of $100,000 to develop new “biosynthetic processes” to lower the cost of crucial drugs currently too expensive to be bought in impoverished countries, Northwestern University announced Tuesday.
The funding grant from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds researchers and scientists from all over the globe whose work involves testing unconventional ideas and prioritizing global health issues where solutions are not present.
The university’s press release explains the science involved:
Current chemical synthesis methods for producing many of these drugs require expensive reagents and have very low yields. Biosynthetic processes use inexpensive reagents, such as sugar, and precisely control the chemistry, increasing yields. More efficient biosynthetic production could dramatically expand the use of these drugs in poor countries and reduce the mortality and spread of diseases.
The grant will last for 18 months, and successful projects will become eligible for a follow-up grant of up to $1 million. Broadbelt and Tyo’s grant is one of 110 grants announced this week from Grand Challenges Explorations.