What's Vir doing with that $500 million

Vir Biotechnology began its life with a big-name CEO, a bunch of money, and a plan to take on a problem that has scared off many a drug company: the scourge of infectious disease.

Now, as STAT’s Kate Sheridan reports, the company is starting its first clinical trial. Dubbed VIR-2218, the therapy is an RNAi-based approach to hepatitis B, one that CEO and Biogen veteran George Scangos hopes can render the virus undetectable.

It’s the first step in what Vir says is a long road toward building a pipeline of treatments for infectious, one that will draw on the company’s more than $500 million in investment dollars amassed so far.

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