Mologic recently announced that it will transition into a social enterprise through the support of a group of philanthropic funds and investors led by the Soros Economic Development Fund, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The investors that are part of the newly launched Global Access Health (GAH) are spending £30 million ($41 million) on the acquisition of all of the shares of Mologic, the company said in a July 19 news release. Bedford, U.K.–based Mologic is a developer of lateral flow and rapid diagnostic technologies including tests that can help combat tropical diseases such as dengue, bilharzia and river blindness — as well as for COVID-19.
“Mologic’s transition into a social enterprise is a deliberate, logical and natural step for a company focused on delivering affordable diagnostics and biotechnology to places that have been left underserved by the relentless pursuit of profiteering,” Mologic CEO Mark Davis said in the news release.
“With the support of our shareholders, donors and partners we have come a long way; we believe we have the people and the skills required for the challenges and opportunities ahead. And we hope this unique transaction will be an example for others to follow,” Davis said.
GAH will combine Mologic and a sister nonprofit entity Global Access Diagnostics (GAD), which Mologic’s founders started in April 2020 with support from the Soros fund and others. Mark Davis will continue as Molgoic CEO, and Paul Davis will remain the company’s chief scientific officer.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has painfully demonstrated the fundamental inequities in global public health, and in particular the crucial importance of access in low- and middle-income countries to low-price, high-quality life-saving diagnostic tools,” said Soros Economic Development Fund CEO Sean Hinton. “In this unique transaction, philanthropic funds and investors are working together with a skilled and visionary management team in a truly innovative way to address at least one part of that failure by enabling a cutting edge commercial business to focus all its resources on solving one of the world’s most pressing public health issues.”