Airfinity

Last updated
Airfinity Ltd
Company typePrivate company
IndustryData and analytics (health)
Founded2015
FoundersRasmus Bech Hansen, Sacha Carton
Headquarters London, United Kingdom [1]
Website www.airfinity.com

Airfinity Ltd is a UK-based data and analytics company. It specialises in monitoring and forecasting trends in the global disease and public health industries. [2]

History

Airfinity was co-founded in 2015 by Rasmus Bech Hansen and Sacha Carton [3] [4] and is one of the 515 companies in which the UK government's Future Fund retains equity. [5]

In 2020, the company became one of the most quoted data companies in the media for its COVID-19 reports, [4] [1] having been described as doing "the best modelling of the pandemic data" by professor Sir John Bell. [6]

In July 2022, Airfinity's analysis on COVID-19 vaccines estimated AstraZeneca's vaccine Vaxzevria saved 6.3m lives worldwide in its first year of usage [7] and Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnarty saved 5.9 million lives in the same time period. [8] [9]

On 25 December 2022, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced it would no longer be sharing data on COVID-19 infections. [10] After this, Airfinity became the leading source of COVID-19 infection and death estimates in China. [1] [11]

Based on regional modelling, Airfinity estimated between 1.3 and 2.1 million people would die in the first wave of infections. [12] [13] The firm's epidemiological forecast predicted cases would peak at 4.8 million a day and deaths would peak at 9,000 a day. [14] [15] [16]

In April 2023, The Rhodes Trust hosted a policy summit where experts discussed learnings from the pandemic. Speakers included Sir John Bell, Sir Tony Blair, George Fu Gao, Richard Hatchett, and Andrew Pollard. During the summit, Airfinity's CEO Rasmus Bech Hansen presented the company's forecast on the likelihood of another pandemic, which suggested that there was a 27.5% of a COVID-like pandemic occurring in the next decade. [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pandemic</span> Widespread, often global, epidemic of severe infectious disease

A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic diseases with a stable number of infected individuals such as recurrences of seasonal influenza are generally excluded as they occur simultaneously in large regions of the globe rather than being spread worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic</span> Pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Soon after, it spread to other areas of Asia, and then worldwide in early 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, and assessed the outbreak as having become a pandemic on 11 March.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory</span>

This is a general overview and status of places affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The first human cases of COVID-19 were identified in Wuhan, the capital of the province of Hubei in China in December 2019. It spread to other areas of Asia, and then worldwide in early 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19</span> Contagious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020 the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in the United States</span>

On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared a public health emergency on January 31. Restrictions were placed on flights arriving from China, but the initial U.S. response to the pandemic was otherwise slow in terms of preparing the healthcare system, stopping other travel, and testing. The first known American deaths occurred in February and in late February President Donald Trump proposed allocating $2.5 billion to fight the outbreak. Instead, Congress approved $8.3 billion with only Senator Rand Paul and two House representatives voting against, and Trump signed the bill, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, on March 6. Trump declared a national emergency on March 13. The government also purchased large quantities of medical equipment, invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950 to assist. By mid-April, disaster declarations were made by all states and territories as they all had increasing cases. A second wave of infections began in June, following relaxed restrictions in several states, leading to daily cases surpassing 60,000. By mid-October, a third surge of cases began; there were over 200,000 new daily cases during parts of December 2020 and January 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Europe</span>

The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all have reported at least one death, with the exception of Vatican City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom</span>

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in 25,023,567 confirmed cases, and is associated with 232,112 deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine</span> Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2

A COVID‑19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Benin</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in Benin

The COVID-19 pandemic in Benin was a part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Benin in March 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Health Organization response to the COVID-19 pandemic</span>

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a leading organisation involved in the global coordination for mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic within the broader United Nations response to the pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on other health issues</span> Health consequences of outbreak beyond the COVID-19 disease itself

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many impacts on global health beyond those caused by the COVID-19 disease itself. It has led to a reduction in hospital visits for other reasons. There have been 38 per cent fewer hospital visits for heart attack symptoms in the United States and 40 per cent fewer in Spain. The head of cardiology at the University of Arizona said, "My worry is some of these people are dying at home because they're too scared to go to the hospital." There is also concern that people with strokes and appendicitis are not seeking timely treatment. Shortages of medical supplies have impacted people with various conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public health mitigation of COVID-19</span> Measures to halt the spread of the respiratory disease among populations

Part of managing an infectious disease outbreak is trying to delay and decrease the epidemic peak, known as flattening the epidemic curve. This decreases the risk of health services being overwhelmed and provides more time for vaccines and treatments to be developed. Non-pharmaceutical interventions that may manage the outbreak include personal preventive measures such as hand hygiene, wearing face masks, and self-quarantine; community measures aimed at physical distancing such as closing schools and cancelling mass gathering events; community engagement to encourage acceptance and participation in such interventions; as well as environmental measures such surface cleaning. It has also been suggested that improving ventilation and managing exposure duration can reduce transmission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium</span> British genomics research consortium

The COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium was a group of academic institutions and public health agencies in the United Kingdom created in April 2020 to collect, sequence and analyse genomes of SARS-CoV-2 at scale, as part of COVID-19 pandemic response.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deployment of COVID-19 vaccines</span> Distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccinations

As of 12 August 2024, 13.53 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, with 70.6 percent of the global population having received at least one dose. While 4.19 million vaccines were then being administered daily, only 22.3 percent of people in low-income countries had received at least a first vaccine by September 2022, according to official reports from national health agencies, which are collated by Our World in Data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of COVID-19 vaccine development</span> Scientific work to develop a vaccine for COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was isolated in late 2019. Its genetic sequence was published on 11 January 2020, triggering an urgent international response to prepare for an outbreak and hasten the development of a preventive COVID-19 vaccine. Since 2020, vaccine development has been expedited via unprecedented collaboration in the multinational pharmaceutical industry and between governments. By June 2020, tens of billions of dollars were invested by corporations, governments, international health organizations, and university research groups to develop dozens of vaccine candidates and prepare for global vaccination programs to immunize against COVID‑19 infection. According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the geographic distribution of COVID‑19 vaccine development shows North American entities to have about 40% of the activity, compared to 30% in Asia and Australia, 26% in Europe, and a few projects in South America and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in China</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in China

The COVID-19 pandemic in China is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). China was the first country to experience an outbreak of the disease, the first to impose drastic measures in response, and one of the first countries to bring the outbreak under control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endemic COVID-19</span> Theoretical future stage of COVID-19

COVID-19 has been predicted to become an endemic disease by many experts. The observed behavior of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, suggests it is unlikely it will die out, and the lack of a COVID-19 vaccine that provides long-lasting immunity against infection means it cannot immediately be eradicated; thus, transition to an endemic phase appears probable. In an endemic phase, people continue to become infected and ill, but in relatively stable numbers. Such a transition may take years or decades. Precisely what would constitute an endemic phase is contested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom (July–December 2022)</span>

The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom from July 2022 to December 2022.

The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom in 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "How a little-known London start-up predicted China's deadly Covid outbreak". Telegraph UK. Sarah Newey. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "Why now is the time to stock up on UK small caps". FT Advisor. Ken Wotton and Tom Makey. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "AIRFINITY LIMITED - Company number 09502389". Find and update company information.
  4. 1 2 "Meet Europe's fastest-growing bootstrapped companies". Sifted. Maija Palmer and Riddhi Kanetkar. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Companies in which the Future Fund has an equity interest". British Business Bank.
  6. ↑ "The World Tonight". BBC. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  7. ↑ "UK Biological Security Strategy (HTML)". Government UK.
  8. ↑ "Which covid-19 vaccine saved the most lives in 2021?". Economist. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  9. ↑ "Rapid-response manufacturing of adenovirus-vectored vaccines". Nature. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention". National Health Commission (China).
  11. ↑ "China has stopped publishing daily COVID data amid reports of a huge spike in cases". NPR. Robbie Griffiths. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "China's 'zero-COVID' limits saved lives but no clear exit". AP News. Maria Cheng & Carla K. Johnson. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  13. ↑ "Factbox: How many people might die, and why, under relaxed China COVID curbs". Reuters. Brenda Goh. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  14. ↑ "Airfinity CEO Says Covid Peak Could Go Much Higher". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  15. ↑ "China Covid: experts estimate 9,000 deaths a day as US says it may sample wastewater from planes". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  16. ↑ "China COVID deaths accelerate to 9,000 a day - UK research firm Airfinity". Reuters. Ryan Woo and Joe Cash. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  17. ↑ "Rhodes Policy Summit: Creating a Positive Legacy from the Pandemic". The Rhodes Trust. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  18. ↑ "Disease forecasters are convinced there's a 27% chance of another COVID-like pandemic within 10 years—but experts believe there's a silver bullet". Fortune. Eleanor Pringle. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
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