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Winter coronavirus threat spurs new surge of startup activity

27 October 2020
Dan Ackermann

U.S. coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are surging, with cold weather arriving before even the best-case scenario for a widely distributed vaccine. Now we're also beginning to see an increase in coronavirus-related startup funding, focused on both testing and pharma.

Driving the news: Gauss, a Silicon Valley computer vision startup focused on health care, tells Axios that it's raised $10 million to accelerate development and commercialization of an at-home rapid antigen test for COVID-19.

  • Gauss was founded in 2011 to focus on surgical bleeding, but earlier this year signed a partnership with biotech Cellex to create what would be the first rapid COVID-19 test that can be fully performed at home without involving a lab.
  • CEO Sid Satish says that Gauss will file with the FDA for an emergency use authorization "in days not weeks" and will release its data soon.
  • The 4100 Group led the round, and was joined by return backers SoftBank Ventures Asia, Northwell Health, Providence Health and Services, OSF Healthcare, and Polaris Partners.

Other deals have included a $215 million infusion for antiviral treatment developer Atea Pharma (which is now nearing an IPO) and a $100 million deal for portable testing company Cue Health.

Between the lines: The big concern for venture capitalists is that some startups will put too many eggs in the COVID-19 basket, and then be stuck when demand shifts.

  • Satish says his company is trying to mitigate that risk by maintaining its pre-pandemic products and customers, but adds that controlling spread is just an initial application for COVID-19 testing.
  • "You'll need some overlap of testing as a safety net and bridge to when a significant portion of people have been vaccinated. And, even with a vaccine, I think easy rapid testing will be a long-term necessity as a risk reduction method."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.