On February 4, 2020, the U.S. secretary of health and human services declared that emergency use of diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2 was justified, triggering emergency authority for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to grant an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a device if it reasonably believes that it may be effective, rather than waiting to grant full approval when it has reasonable assurance that the device is safe and effective.

Ask the Accelerators is a series highlighting the perspectives and work of organizations and individuals participating in the COVID-19 Evidence Accelerator. Organized by the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Friends of Cancer Research, the COVID-19 Evidence Accelerator joins leaders in the health care data and analytics space to explore how real-world data (RWD) can inform key COVID-19 research questions.

Former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb’s favorite real-world evidence platform is getting a new stream of cash, as it nears what will likely be the biggest test of the young company so far.

Aetion, the New York health tech startup, has for the second time raised an extension to their Series B, adding $19 million from J&J’s VC arm, Greenspring Associates and EDBI to bring their round to $82 million. Gottlieb, who championed real-world evidence as commissioner and later joined the company’s board, said in a statement that the new cash would help fuel a global expansion.