Record funding for digital health — A tiny biotech gets $1.6 billion for a coronavirus vaccine — The Amazon vet who's leading its COVID-19 testing project

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A reminder from Dr. Anthony Fauci: We're still "knee-deep" in the pandemic's first wave.

VCs just poured $5.4 billion into startups forging the future of healthcare. Here are the 11 top digital health startups that took home the most cash.

• Digital health companies raised $5.4 billion in the first half of 2020.
• It's a new record, digital health venture fund and advisory firm Rock Health said in a July report.
• The digital health industry is on track to have its best funding year ever.

Read the full story by Blake Dodge here>>

The CEO of a tiny biotech working on a coronavirus vaccine tells us how a $1.6 billion grant from the US government will 'level the playing field' with Big Pharma

• A tiny biotech called Novavax has secured the largest deal yet from the US government to support its coronavirus vaccine program.
• Novavax has never brought a vaccine to market in its 33-year history.
• Its vaccine started early human testing in late-May and is set to produce results in July.
• The $1.6 billion funding deal will help test its vaccine candidate in large clinical trials and ramp up manufacturing, the company said Tuesday.

Read the full story by Andrew Dunn here>>

Amazon has put a 15-year company veteran who most recently ran the Prime program in charge of its new COVID-19 testing project, codenamed 'Ultraviolet'

• Cem Sibay is now leading the company's efforts to build an internal COVID-19 testing lab, Business Insider has learned.
• Sibay is Amazon's former vice president of worldwide Prime product and technology.
• His team's priority is to build the testing capabilities and infrastructure needed to deliver test results in between the lab and Amazon's facilities across the country.

Read the full story by Eugene Kim here>>

More stories we're reading:

• Trump is pulling the US out of the World Health Organization (The Wall Street Journal)
• Why hundreds of scientists are asking the WHO to say the coronavirus is 'airborne,' and why the WHO is not jumping to do so (Business Insider)
• A Pennsylvania nursing home gave residents hydroxychloroquine even though they hadn't been tested for COVID-19 (Washington Post)
• The coronavirus pandemic will create 'a generation of disabled individuals,' according to a doctor and research (Insider)

Thoughts? Questions? You can find me at lramsey@businessinsider.com. Don't forget to subscribe to this daily email here.

- Lydia