Melinda French Gates's Bold Move to Bridge Women's Health Research Gap

Philanthropist Melinda French Gates is set to invest $50 million in a women's health fund dedicated to closing the gender gap in medical research. French Gates' Pivotal group is partnering with the non-profit Wellcome Leap, in a collaboration valued at a total of $100 million. According to French Gates, only 1% of pharmaceutical research funding outside cancer was allocated to women's health in 2024.

The new partnership seeks to expedite research in areas where women are disproportionately affected, such as cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders. French Gates emphasized that these health concerns have been historically underfunded, expressing her determination to make women's health a central issue. After departing the Gates Foundation in 2024, which her ex-husband Bill Gates now leads alone, French Gates continues her advocacy for women's health. The announcement comes shortly after the Gates Foundation committed $2.5 billion by 2030 to address neglected women's health.

Pivotal and Wellcome stress the necessity of addressing women's higher susceptibility to health issues and their higher rates of misdiagnosis. French Gates noted the profound and persistent gap in research, as women were only mandated to be included in U.S. clinical trials from 1993. Regina Dugan, CEO of Wellcome Leap, criticized the longstanding practice of dismissing women's health conditions as untreatable mysteries. The partnership plans to select two strategic projects by 2026, aiming for tangible outcomes within 3 to 5 years.