One diagram shows how 3 types of coronavirus vaccines differ

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Today in healthcare news: a breakdown of how the top coronavirus vaccines work, a closer look at Clover Health’s financial performance over the years, and the top investors in digital health. 

The US is betting on 3 types of coronavirus vaccines, one of which is totally unproven. A diagram shows how they differ.

• The Trump administration is backing six coronavirus vaccine candidates as part of Operation Warp Speed.
• Each vaccine targets the virus’ spike protein, which helps it attach to and invade cells. But they use three different technological approaches in order to do that.
• The leading two candidates, from Moderna and Pfizer, are mRNA vaccines. The others are protein-based or viral vector vaccines. The chart below shows the difference.

Check out the diagram from Aria Bendix here>>

Clover Health is going public. Here's an inside look at its enrollment and financial performance over the past 5 years.

• The Social Capital SPAC led by billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya is acquiring Clover Health in a $3.7 billion deal that'll take the health insurance company public.
• Clover offers health plans to seniors 65 and up through Medicare Advantage, the private arm of the federally funded Medicare program.
• Here's a look at Clover's enrollment and financial performance from 2015 to 2020. 

Read the full story here>>

Investors just poured $8.4 billion into startups in the hottest part of healthcare. Here are the 5 top VC firms making the most digital-health bets.

• Private investment in healthcare startups remained strong in the third quarter of 2020, according to a new CB Insights report out Monday.
• Private investors across the world invested $21.8 billion in healthcare startups, smashing the previous record of $18.1 billion set just the previous quarter.
• Digital health startups remained the most popular investment within healthcare in the quarter, according to the report, and saw an all-time-high $8.4 billion in private investment.

Read the full story by Megan Hernbroth here>>

More stories we're reading:

• CVS is hiring 15,000 new staff to cope with an expected rise of COVID-19 cases and the potential rollout of a vaccine (Business Insider) 
• Alphabet's longevity bet Calico has started its first clinical trial, and it's for a cancer drug (Endpoints)
• Biotechs are packing multiple founding rounds into a single year (Stat News)
• Meet the 11 companies racing to make a COVID-19 test that's as quick and easy to take as a pregnancy test (Business Insider)

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- Lydia