The initiative, dubbed in all seriousness Project Gesundheit, is part of the tech giant’s moonshot team Grand Challenge. The team is hoping to develop a vaccine, according to people familiar with the effort who spoke to CNBC, but is open to other solutions. (CNBC)

Talking point: Amazon is exploring other ways to capitalize on the lucrative health-care market—worth US$3.5 billion in the U.S. alone. It recently filed to trademark the name “Amazon Pharmacy” in Canada, the U.K. and Australia, among others. In June 2018, Amazon acquired e-pharmacy PillPack for around US$753 million. A cure for the cold could be big business: colds cost the U.S. economy an estimated US$40 billion per year (proportionally $6 billion for the Canadian economy) between medical costs and lost productivity, according to a 2003 study.