The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) pledged $200 million to fight diseases in poor countries, promising to slash the time it takes to get new vaccines to needy children and save more than a million lives a year. The cash would allow various countries around the world to receive the vaccines quicker.
The plan aims to supply developing nations with newly licensed vaccines for rotavirus and pneumococcus, which the World Health Organization (WHO) says are the biggest preventable causes of death among children in poor countries.
The two rotavirus vaccines are made by British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and U.S. pharmaceutical firm Merck.
The pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar is made by Wyeth.
A fourth vaccine, a pneumococcal vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline, is expected to be available later.
GAVI is funded by the European Union, the United States and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.