Stripe, Anthropic, and OpenAI fund an ambitious initiative to eradicate respiratory diseases

The common cold is an annoyance that we all suffer from several times a year, and until now there has been no effective way to prevent it. The usual approach was to resort to vitamin C or avoid contact with sick people. But this could change thanks to a new nonprofit organization that has strong financial backing.

Stripe, the payment company founded by the Collison brothers, announced the funding of Intercept, an initiative that starts with $500 million. The goal is ambitious: to prevent both the common cold and the flu, and eventually eradicate respiratory viruses.

In addition to Stripe, participants include Anthropic, the OpenAI Foundation, Flu Lab, Bill Gates, and operators from Jane Street Capital. The idea is to use these funds to support innovative prevention approaches, including vaccines and large-scale air purification systems in schools, offices, and public spaces.

An underestimated burden on society

According to Nan Ransohoff, a Stripe executive leading the project alongside venture capitalist Charlie Petty, society has treated these infections as minor issues. However, people spend about 5% of their lives dealing with colds or flu, which represents a significant burden.

Pharmaceutical companies invest little in this area because colds are caused by more than 200 different viruses, primarily rhinoviruses. This makes developing traditional vaccines less commercially attractive.

Ransohoff compares this initiative to Stripe's Frontier program for carbon removal: both are technically feasible but lack market incentives. Intercept aims to fill that gap.

The concept emerged after discussions with David Veesler, a structural biologist at the University of Washington. Veesler suggested that it is feasible to create broad-spectrum countermeasures against multiple viruses simultaneously.

Innovative technologies on the horizon

Among the available tools are RNA drugs, antibodies, and computational protein design. An interesting proposal is to develop proteins that can be sprayed in the nose to trap viruses before they cause infection.

“Most people simply accept these viruses as a fact of life,” Veesler noted. The team was inspired by the rapid advancements during the COVID-19 pandemic, where vaccines, antivirals, and antibodies were developed in record time.

Intercept will have heavyweight advisors like Peter Marks, former FDA official, and Moncef Slaoui, who led Operation Warp Speed in the United States. A key challenge will be addressing the diversity of viruses, so they are also exploring technologies like ultraviolet light to purify air, similar to how drinking water is treated.