The Trump administration has pledged $812 million (AED 2.98 billion) to boost the US manufacturing of medicines needed to treat the coronavirus.
It's aimed to end dependence on other countries, and boost their own supply chain.
The four-year contract, worth $354 million, which has been awarded to Virginia-based Phlow Corp can be extended to a total of $812 million over 10 years.
It will develop essential drugs and not vaccines, officials explained.
"For far too long, we've relied on foreign manufacturing and supply chains for our most important medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients while placing America's health, safety, and national security at grave risk," Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said in a statement.
Pakistan recorded its highest April rain since 1961, receiving more than double the usual rainfall for the month, according to the country's Meteorological Department.
Thousands of Israelis have protested demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a ceasefire agreement with Hamas that would see the remaining Israeli hostages brought home from Gaza.
Russia has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and put him on a wanted list, the state news agency TASS reported on Saturday, citing the Interior Ministry's database.
The death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 56, local authorities said on Saturday morning, while dozens still have not been accounted for.