| In late September, Operation Warp Speed's top scientists took a field trip to Rockville, Maryland. There, Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientific adviser, and Janet Woodcock, who leads the search for drugs to combat Covid-19, ventured inside a drab, unassuming laboratory belonging to a little-known biotech called OncoImmune. As the Warp Speed leaders toured the facility and met with staff, they could hardly disguise the look of shock on their faces. "I think they were surprised that the place was in such shambles," laughs Yang Liu, OncoImmune's CEO, recalling his visitors' reactions. "People think you need a large operation to pull off something like this."  Moncef Slaoui Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Polaris What Liu's 10-person team at OncoImmune had accomplished was impressive—perhaps even pandemic-altering. Repurposing decades of research on inflammation, OncoImmune had developed a potential treatment for the deadliest cases of Covid-19. Its experimental drug, CD24Fc, significantly improved the chances and speed of recovery in studies of "severe and critical" Covid-19 patients needing oxygen. It also brought about a more than 50% decrease in risks of respiratory failure and death. While the clinical data left Slaoui muttering, "Oh my god," to himself, the renowned immunologist knew OncoImmune didn't have the manufacturing firepower to get the drug to the American people at, well, warp speed. It was time to play matchmaker. He turned to his Rolodex of big-company CEOs and R&D chiefs. Merck's Roger Perlmutter was among them. "And then, voila," says Slaoui, a match was made. By late November, Merck had acquired OncoImmune for $425 million and hashed out plans for large-scale production of the treatment. Operation Warp Speed is currently in talks with Merck to buy that supply, aiming to distribute the drug to hospitalized patients in the first half of 2021. As more than 1 million infections crop up across the U.S. each week, and hospitalizations top all-time highs, doctors desperately need improved drugs for their arsenal. Merck's is a glimmer of hope for those resource-strapped healthcare providers, likely to replace existing antivirals and steroids as the new standard of care. In the medical world, as with Wall Street or Hollywood, personal connections get deals done. The story of OncoImmune shows how Operation Warp Speed leveraged one man's deep contact list to pave a small but critical agreement.—Riley Griffin | 
⇉〖OpenLoad〗 2020 Superintelligence PelÃcula Completa En LÃnea released 2020. story: La vida de Carol Peters se trastorna cuando es selecci...
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