Airfinity
{{Short description|Data and analytics company}}
{{infobox company
|name = Airfinity Ltd
|logo =
|type = Private company
|industry = Data and analytics (health)
|location = London, United Kingdom
|founded = 2015
|founders = Rasmus Bech Hansen, Sacha Carton
|website = {{URL|https://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.{{cite web |title=Why now is the time to stock up on UK small caps |url=https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2023/02/03/why-now-is-the-time-to-stock-up-on-uk-small-caps/?page=2 |website=FT Advisor |publisher=Ken Wotton and Tom Makey |access-date=3 February 2023}}
History
Airfinity was co-founded in 2015 by Rasmus Bech Hansen and Sacha Carton {{cite web |title=AIRFINITY LIMITED - Company number 09502389 |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/09502389 |website=Find and update company information}}{{cite web |title=Meet Europe’s fastest-growing bootstrapped companies |url=https://sifted.eu/articles/europes-bootstrapped-startups |website=Sifted |publisher=Maija Palmer and Riddhi Kanetkar |access-date=18 October 2021}} and is one of the 515 companies in which the UK government's Future Fund retains equity.{{cite web |title=Companies in which the Future Fund has an equity interest |url=https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-schemes/future-fund/future-fund-companies/ |website=British Business Bank}}
In 2020, the company became one of the most quoted data companies in the media for its COVID-19 reports,{{cite web |title=How a little-known London start-up predicted China’s deadly Covid outbreak |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/airfinity-data-coronavirus-china-omicron-outbreak-pandemic/ |website=Telegraph UK |publisher=Sarah Newey |access-date=1 June 2023}} having been described as doing "the best modelling of the pandemic data" by professor Sir John Bell.{{cite web |title=The World Tonight |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001n8l0 |website=BBC |access-date=27 June 2023}}
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{{cite web |title=UK Biological Security Strategy (HTML) |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-biological-security-strategy/uk-biological-security-strategy-html |website=Government UK}} and Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnarty saved 5.9 million lives in the same time period.{{cite web |title=Which covid-19 vaccine saved the most lives in 2021? |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2022/07/13/which-covid-19-vaccine-saved-the-most-lives-in-2021 |website=Economist |access-date=13 July 2022}}{{cite web |title=Rapid-response manufacturing of adenovirus-vectored vaccines |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-023-01682-2 |website=Nature |access-date=8 March 2023}}
On 25 December 2022, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced it would no longer be sharing data on COVID-19 infections.{{cite web |title=China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |url=http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/yqtb/202212/7272431ee60c4f4d953b0c16257c230e.shtml |website=National Health Commission (China)}} After this, Airfinity became the leading source of COVID-19 infection and death estimates in China.{{cite web |title=China has stopped publishing daily COVID data amid reports of a huge spike in cases |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/12/25/1145472905/china-stops-publishing-daily-covid-data |website=NPR |publisher=Robbie Griffiths |access-date=25 December 2022}}
Based on regional modelling, Airfinity estimated between 1.3 and 2.1 million people would die in the first wave of infections.{{cite web |title=China’s ‘zero-COVID’ limits saved lives but no clear exit |url=https://apnews.com/article/science-health-china-pandemics-xi-jinping-2fd68a0b6ac855fbad7d3fdc6c98be3f |website=AP News |publisher=Maria Cheng & Carla K. Johnson |access-date=29 November 2022}}{{cite web |title=Factbox: How many people might die, and why, under relaxed China COVID curbs |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/china/how-many-people-might-die-why-if-china-loosens-covid-restrictions-2022-12-03/ |website=Reuters |publisher=Brenda Goh |access-date=20 December 2022}} The firm's epidemiological forecast predicted cases would peak at 4.8 million a day and deaths would peak at 9,000 a day.{{cite web |title=Airfinity CEO Says Covid Peak Could Go Much Higher |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2022-12-12/airfinity-ceo-says-covid-peak-could-go-much-higher-video |website=Bloomberg |access-date=13 December 2022}}{{cite web |title=China Covid: experts estimate 9,000 deaths a day as US says it may sample wastewater from planes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/30/china-covid-experts-estimate-9000-deaths-a-day-as-us-says-it-may-sample-wastewater-from-planes |website=The Guardian |access-date=30 December 2022}}{{cite web |title=China COVID deaths accelerate to 9,000 a day - UK research firm Airfinity |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-covid-deaths-accelerate-9000-day-uk-research-firm-airfinity-2022-12-29/ |website=Reuters |publisher=Ryan Woo and Joe Cash |access-date=30 December 2022}}
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.{{cite web |title=Rhodes Policy Summit: Creating a Positive Legacy from the Pandemic |url=https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/news-events/events/events/2023/april/rhodes-policy-summit-creating-a-positive-legacy-from-the-pandemic/ |website=The Rhodes Trust |access-date=14 April 2023}}{{cite web |title=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 |url=https://fortune.com/well/2023/04/18/disease-forecasters-predict-new-covid-like-pandemic-within-10-years/ |website=Fortune |publisher=Eleanor Pringle |access-date=18 April 2023}}