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.
A lead TV analyst suspects Netflix may be battling a case of nerves as the streaming giant turns to the debt markets for the third time in a year. "I think it's a reaction to the fact that Warner is coming into the picture, and Disney," Alan Wolk, a co-founder and lead analyst at TV[R]EV, told Cheddar Monday. "Suddenly, that market ー especially in the U.S. ー is getting crowded."
Amazon, Alphabet, Twiter, and other big tech companies are set to report quarterly earnings this week. Elon Musk says The Boring Company's high-speed transit tunnel will be open to the public on December 10. And Zane Holtz, star of the upcoming film 'Hunter Killer,' joins Cheddar to discuss what it's like working with big-name talent such as Gary Oldman and Gerard Butler in this new movie.
Aurora Cannabis will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, though it already trades in Canada. Debra Borchardt, co-founder and CEO of the Green Market Report, predicts how the stock will fare in its NYSE debut.
In the wake of two massive data scandals this year, the tech company is reportedly looking to acquire a company that can help beef up its cybersecurity. The Information reporter Sarah Kuranda, who broke the story, told Cheddar why Facebook is willing to pay top dollar for a big name in the space.
Broad stock indexes sputtered Monday, but tech investors looked ahead to one of the busiest earnings weeks of the quarter, anchored by reports from many industry heavyweights that were able to avoid overall weakness in the market.
Elon Musk says the first part of his Boring Company's L.A. underground tunnel will open in December.
Peloton, the stationary bike maker with a cult-like following, has launched Tread ー an all-in-one treadmill and bootcamp experience. CEO John Foley said you can now get a full-body workout at home.
On Friday, SolarWinds came back to market at the NYSE Friday after a three-year period in which the IT software company was private. CEO Kevin Thompson explained why the time was right to tap capital markets for cash.
Alicia Tillman, CMO of the enterprise software company, spoke to Cheddar's Jon Steinberg about how SAP is adapting to become a more visible presence to its customers' end user.
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