The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Seattle, has awarded a $39-million grant to PATH, a Seattle charity, to support its efforts to help poor countries develop an inexpensive flu vaccine, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The threat of an influenza pandemic, particularly if stemming from a mutation of the deadly bird flu, poses a particular challenge to developing countries, which may lack the ability to respond effectively, the newspaper notes. While significant amounts of money have recently gone toward development of flu vaccines, little research has focused on the needs of poor countries, where a flu outbreak could start.

John Boslego, PATH’s director of vaccine development, says that poor countries must be able to supply themselves with flu vaccine for just pennies per dose to respond to a global pandemic. Our ultimate goal here,” Dr. Boslego says, “is to get these vaccines made in these countries.”