Ridgeback Biotherapeutics is a

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

based

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

company, primarily known for their involvement in developing a successful

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

medication. Ridgeback is privately owned by hedge fund manager and physician, Wayne Holman (formerly of S.A.C. Capital Advisors) and his wife Wendy Holman. Wendy is the CEO at the company, which refers to itself as a majority woman owned business. In early 2020 Ridgeback purchased an exclusive license for the commercial development of Molnupiravir from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of h ...

, where the drug was initially developed with $16 million in grants from Federal agencies including the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

. The terms of the deal were undisclosed. Molnupiravir was initially researched as a treatment for

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

, but may have

broad spectrum A broad-spectrum antibiotic is an antibiotic that acts on the two major bacterial groups, Gram-positive and Gram-negative, or any antibiotic that acts against a wide range of disease-causing bacteria. These medications are used when a bacterial in ...

activity against other viruses. Ridgeback was mentioned in a whistleblower complaint from

Rick Bright Rick Arthur Bright is an American immunologist, vaccine researcher, and public health official. He was the director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) from 2016 to 2020. In May 2020, he filed a whistleblower ...

, former director of the

Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) office responsible for the procurement and development of medical countermeasures, principally against bioterrorism, inc ...

. The complaint alleged that Ridgeback lobbied the government for millions in funding to help develop Molnupiravir. Merck & Co. partnered with Ridgeback to perform clinical trials with Molnupiravir in humans to treat COVID-19. Ridgeback has also developed a number of other advanced medications such as monoclonal antibody Ansuvimab against the Ebola virus.

References

Health care companies based in Florida {{Med-company-stub