Bill Gates Invests $100 Million To Combat Alzheimer's
SEATTLE (AP) — Bill Gates says he's giving $100 million to help fight Alzheimer's disease.
The Microsoft co-founder said Monday that $50 million of the donation will go to the Dementia Discovery Fund. The donation is personal and not through his charitable foundation, Gates says.
The other $50 million will go to start-up ventures that conduct Alzheimer's research.
The London-based private fund is backed by government, charities and pharmaceutical firms and seeks new treatments for the progressive, irreversible neurological disease.
In a statement, Gates says men in his family have suffered from Alzheimer's. He says he's hopeful that in time Alzheimer's could be a chronic condition treatable with medication.
Gates says the first treatments for the disease might not be feasible for a decade or more and would initially be expensive. He says the Gates Foundation might consider how to expand access in poorer countries when treatments are developed.
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