Private Company Edition: Clover’s $230m financing was the largest of recent mega-rounds. Century Therapeutics ($160m), Vividion ($135m) and eGenesis ($125m) also raised big rounds and investors Foresite Capital ($969m), Sofinnova Partners ($540m) and OMX Ventures ($150m) raised new VC funds. 

Other antibody treatments have shown efficacy in early-stage disease after faltering in hospitalized patients.

The FDA granted emergency authorization for Moderna's mRNA-1273 following a 17 December advisory committee vote in its favor. There have also been more supply deals and approvals in Asia.

President Trump's Operation Warp Speed initiative aims to have a COVID-19 vaccine available by the end of the year; Slaoui, who helped get the first cervical cancer vaccine to market and win European approval of the first malaria vaccine while at GlaxoSmithKline, is tasked with coordinating the government's contributions to coronavirus vaccine effort and achieving what would be twin scientific and manufacturing miracles.