Atea Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been quietly developing a pipeline of oral direct-acting antiviral drugs against hepatitis C and other RNA viruses since 2014, but now the company has emerged from stealth mode with a $215m series D venture capital round and a lead development program designed to prevent moderate COVID-19 patients from turning into severe cases requiring mechanical ventilation.
Lead series D investor Bain Capital Life Sciences and the company’s many other backers are investing in Atea’s purine nucleotide...






