The funding supports a clinical trial to identify effective treatments for monkeypox virus disease. Monkeypox virus is a re-emerging pathogen that causes monkeypox virus disease, a disease of epidemic potential that causes significant morbidity and can result in death. Human monkeypox cases have been increasing in sub-Saharan Africa since 2000 and sporadic outbreaks outside of Africa have occurred, with cases in the US and the UK in 2021. The similarity between MPXV and the variola virus, coupled with concerns about the potential of the variola virus as a potential bioterrorism agent, have placed monkeypox treatments at the forefront of public health and scientific research agendas in many countries.