The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in its COVID-19 response, will fund up to $120 million to increase access to an experimental drug for lower-income countries, which will be used in treating COVID-19, the foundation announced on Tuesday. The funding will support efforts to develop and make generic versions of what could become the first oral antiviral medication for the disease if it wins regulatory approval, it explained in a statement. “Merck has taken important steps to make this drug available as a COVID-19 therapy, including negotiating licenses with generics manufacturers to increase supply. We are pleased to work alongside these efforts to ensure affordability and availability in lower-income countries,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation. The tablet medicine, dubbed “molnupiravir,” is being developed by pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. and is meant to combat cases of mild or moderate CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19. Earlier this month, …