With elderly patients disproportionately facing hospitalization and death from COVID-19, success in the clinic would create an important market for the drug.

Private Company Edition: New capital for health care and life science innovations include a fund for royalty deals, additional anti-infective funding, early-stage money and public health-focused cash. Also, Day One reveals a $130m series B venture round and Notch closes an $85m series A round.

The agreement focuses on respiratory viruses, especially influenza, and includes a $225m upfront payment plus an increase in GSK’s equity investment in Vir.

AstraZeneca and BioNTech are both boosting production of their vaccines in Europe, and the first batches of Comirnaty have arrived in Australia and New Zealand.