A new $500 million fund backed by Stripe, Anthropic and others will support drugs and air filtration tech aimed at preventing colds, flu and other respiratory viruses. It plans to shepherd at least two therapies through Phase I/II trials and pilot air-cleaning systems in offices to de-risk them for larger investors.

• A $500M fund called Intercept, backed by Stripe and Anthropic, aims to push antiviral drugs and air-filtration tech to eliminate colds and flu.
• Strategy is to fund the risky early trials (Phase I/II) for at least two drug candidates, then hand off to big pharma for expensive Phase III trials.
• It's also funding real-world pilot tests of HEPA/UV air-cleaning systems at companies like Warby Parker, Mastercard, and JPMorgan.
• Experts warn $500M is likely insufficient, since Phase I/II trials alone cost $20-30M each and Phase III costs far more.