Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have donated $25 million through their foundation to a philanthropic effort organized by Bill Gates to explore new coronavirus treatments.
The Gates Foundation donated $50 million last week to what it’s calling the “COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator.” The initiative brings together life sciences companies to collaborate on the development of new vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments for COVID-19.
“The Therapeutics Accelerator will enable researchers to quickly determine whether or not existing drugs have a potential benefit against COVID-19,” Chan and Zuckerberg said in a press release. “We hope these coordinated efforts will help stop the spread of COVID-19 as well as provide shared, reusable strategies to respond to future pandemics.”
The two donations are the largest from tech billionaires since the coronavirus outbreak. Wellcome and Mastercard are supporting the effort as well.
The goal of the initiative is to either develop a new drug or adapt an existing treatment that it could help distribute alongside partnering pharmaceutical companies.
The 15 companies participating in the project kicked off the effort by sharing their proprietary libraries of molecular compounds that have some history of being tested with COVID-19.
The lineup includes big names in biotech such as Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
MLG co-founder Mike Sepso takes a seat at the podcast table for a discussion on the lazy summer that inspired MLG.
On today's show: the collapse of the H1Z1 Pro League, the announcement of the "League of Legends" European Championship, and "Fortnite"'s first open cash-prize tournament in the Winter Royale ー plus, PlayVS announces $30 million in funding. Featuring CEO of PlayVS Delane Parnell and DreamHack Global FGC Director Alex Jebailey.
Discussion of Smash Summit 7, Dreamhack Atlanta 2018, Red Bull Conquest, and Chris Pratt's Fortnite ads in Korea.
Featuring former NFL running back Ahman Green, Kelsey Moser, Amanda Stevens, and NYXL Product Dev Manager Samira Behrouzan
PUBG announces their global league for 2019, Red Dead Redemption 2 releases, and Riot faces down a lawsuit for workplace discrimination. Featuring Guy Blaze, ESL brand partnerships SVP Paul Brewer, and CEO of Electronic Gaming Federation Tyler Schrodt.
Alex Garfield re-enters esports, Cloud9 pulls off a miracle, Rocket League executes a win, and Z-Event raises 1 million euros. Featuring ESL SVP Brand Partnerships Paul Brewer, VP Pro Gaming Michal "Carmac" Blicharz, and Former MLB Professional Pitcher Jim Hoey V of Logitech G
Amazon is stepping up its game in the fight against Apple Pay, by migrating its own digital wallet off the web and into the real world. The e-commerce giant is recruiting brick-and-mortar merchants to accept its digital wallet, Amazon Pay, putting it in direct competition with a host of other companies vying for dominance in the burgeoning digital wallet industry
Toronto Esports drops out of Overwatch Contenders, PUBG releases for PS4, and a review of the disastrous Esports Awards. Featuring MLG Co-Founder Mike Sepso, 1HP's Cait McGee, DPT PT, Logitech Head of Esports Brent Barry
As our world becomes increasingly digital, companies are increasingly turning to the "internet of things" to inform their business practices. One such company is cellphone-service provider Sprint, which recently announced a "Curiosity IoT" platform ー a network designed to turn sensor data into "actionable intelligence," according to the chief of products and solutions at the IoT division, Ricky Singh.
The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line has been answering the questions of stressed-out Thanksgiving hosts for decades, but this year it is turning to Amazon Alexa to modernize how it helps with turkey prep.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018.
