DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Citi names 3 biotech stocks to play a growing $2.9 billion opportunity — giving one about 50% upside
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The outlook is starting to look bright for biotech stocks, according to some. With markets now expecting the first rate cut to be in September rather than June or July, as previously thought, biotech stocks could start to do well. Biotech encompasses many different areas, but Citi has identified one with a $2.9 billion market — which it says is set for even more growth. It gave CSL a price target of $305, or nearly 11% potential upside. It gave Intellia a price target of $31, or 49% potential upside.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Garadacimab, Ionis, Citi Organizations: Biotech, Citi, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Intellia Therapeutics, CSL, Intellia

☆ FDA approves Pfizer’s first gene therapy for rare inherited bleeding disorder
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-26 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Pfizer 's treatment for a rare genetic bleeding disorder, making it the company's first-ever gene therapy to win clearance in the U.S. The agency greenlit the drug, which will be marketed as Beqvez, for adults with moderate to severe hemophilia B who meet certain requirements. Without that protein, called factor IX, patients with hemophilia B bruise easily and bleed more frequently and for longer periods of time. The gene therapy will compete with Australia-based CSL Behring's Hemgenix, a similar treatment that won FDA approval for hemophilia B in 2022. The company is also developing a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes muscles to weaken gradually.

Persons: IX, hemophilia, Adam Cuker, Cuker Organizations: Drug Administration, Pfizer, U.S, Penn's, Spark Therapeutics, hemophilia Locations: U.S, Australia

☆ Son Jun-ho: South Korean soccer player returns home after being detained in China on suspicion of accepting bribes
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Gawon Bae | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —South Korean soccer star Son Jun-ho, who was detained in China for allegedly accepting bribes, has recently returned home, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday. The ministry has been communicating with the Chinese authorities through “various channels” and requested cooperation to “ensure a swift and fair process,” it said without giving details of the release. He has also represented South Korea’s men’s national team and reached the knockout stages of the World Cup in 2022 with the squad. Son became the first foreign soccer player to be investigated and detained since the CSL started in 2004, according to China’s state-run Global Times. His arrest was part of a broader initiative by Beijing to rid Chinese soccer of alleged corruption in the highest levels of the sport, during which the Communist Party’s anti-graft watchdog has been investigating a host of Chinese Football Association figures.

Persons: Son, “, ” Organizations: CNN, South, country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chinese Super League, Football Association, Korea’s, CSL, Times, Communist, Chinese Football Association Locations: South Korean, China, China’s, Liaoning, Shandong Taishan, Beijing

☆ Panama port blockade keeps supplies from First Quantum mine, company says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Elida Moreno | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

View of the Cobre Panama mine, of Canadian First Quantum Minerals, in Donoso, Panama, December 6, 2022. Protests have in recent weeks escalated against the miner's contract for a major copper mine operated by the company's local unit, known as Minera Panama. "The illegal actions carried out by small vessels in the port of Punta Rincon have affected the delivery of supplies that are required by Minera Panama, including for energy generation," the company said. Earlier this week, First Quantum reported that the protests blocking the port had reduced ore processing at its Cobre Panama mine, the first sign that the mine's output was at risk. On Thursday, the union for Minera Panama said it reached agreements with the company to ensure worker pay as protests kept some workers from reaching their jobs.

Persons: Senan, Eli Moreno, Brendan O'Boyle, Kylie Madry Organizations: Minerals, REUTERS, Aris, PANAMA CITY, Reuters, Minera, Aeronaval Service, CSL, Cobre, Thomson Locations: Panama, Donoso, PANAMA, Punta Rincon, Minera Panama, Panamanian, Cobre Panama

☆ 8 examples of corporate jargon and phrases that weird out Gen Z
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Gen Z feels like workplace jargon is a different language, a recent LinkedIn survey found. We don't need to do all the corporate jargon. "Welcome back to corporate as a second language where we'll be learning to mask our rage using commonly used corporate jargon," she says. Gen Z's main issue with corporate jargon appears to be that their older colleagues don't say what they mean, but are instead masking their views with fake niceness. AdvertisementAdvertisementHere are eight phrases older professionals are guilty of using that Gen Z find weird:

Persons: Z, They're, —, TikToker DeAndre Brown, – Organizations: Service

☆ Australia's CSL tanks as Novo Nordisk's kidney trial success stokes competition concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Archishma Iyer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Shares of biotechnology firm CSL (CSL.AX) fell to a four-year low on Thursday, after rival Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) Ozempic drug showed early signs of success in delaying the progression of kidney disease in diabetes patients. Shares of CSL closed 5.7% lower at A$239.77, their lowest since Oct. 10, 2019, after falling 6.7% earlier in the session. The stock also marked its worst intraday session in four months and was the top loser on the benchmark. CSL's Vifor segment, which includes therapies for kidney diseases and iron deficiencies, faces concerns of competition in the segment after Ozempic's early trial success, analysts said. Reporting by Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H KOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Novo, Shane Ponraj, Morningstar, Tim Waterer, Archishma Iyer, Varun Organizations: CSL, Novo Nordisk's, CSL Vifor, Novo Nordisk, KCM Trade, Sonic Healthcare, Thomson Locations: Danish, Bengaluru

☆ Fact Check: Australian COVID vaccine with HIV protein misrepresented online
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The programme, titled “Horizon Special: The Vaccine”, documented the development, by the University of Queensland and biotechnology company CSL, of a COVID vaccine candidate that never made it to market. The 63-second video begins with a social media narrator saying: “This is utter madness. Explaining the reason behind choosing the HIV protein, Chappell says on-camera that the protein was picked because it’s well understood and presents no risks, including having no role in helping HIV to make copies of itself: “It’s a highly stable structure. VACCINE CANDIDATE DROPPEDThe social media clip fails to acknowledge that the production of the Australian vaccine candidate was halted following the discovery that it temporarily caused false-positive HIV tests due to the presence of the protein. The Australian vaccine candidate contained an HIV protein which posed no safety threat, but led the vaccine candidate to be dropped before ever making it to larger trials because it produced false-positive test results for HIV.

Persons: Keith Chappell, Chappell, ” Chappell, Read Organizations: University of Queensland, CSL, BBC, University of Queensland’s, Reuters, HIV, Thomson Locations: ”

☆ Images from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft reveal tiny flares shooting from a 'hole' in the sun. They could explain how the sun blasts Earth with charged particles.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementPicoflares could be the source of the solar wind that's blasting EarthAn animation of the solar wind shows particles streaming from the sun towards Earth. That stream, called the "solar wind," gets supercharged when coronal holes or big solar flares are pointed at our planet. Seeing the sun up close, at smaller scales, could reveal its secretsImages from the Solar Orbiter are the closest ever taken of the sun. "Jets, in general, have previously been observed in the solar corona," Chitta, who led the Solar Orbiter study and a team at Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, told Space.com. NASA/SDONASA and the ESA launched Solar Orbiter in 2020, with a goal of studying these winds at their source.

Persons: Lakshmi Pradeep Chitta, NASA's Parker, Chitta, Space.com, it's, Andrei Zhukov Organizations: Service, Orbiter, Solar Orbiter, NASA Solar Dynamics, NASA, Lights, EUI Team, ESA, CSL, MPS, UCL, Probe, Jets, Solar, Max Planck Institute, Solar System Research, European Space Agency, Royal Observatory of Locations: Wall, Silicon, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Brussels

☆ Insight: What happens when a $2 million gene therapy is not enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Deena Beasley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

Their experience raises broader questions around other high-cost gene therapies coming to market, sometimes after accelerated regulatory approvals, drug pricing experts said. Gene therapies work by replacing genes – the body's blueprint for its development. The gene Zolgensma delivers instructs the body to make a protein vital for muscle control. If gene therapies do fall short, it becomes harder to justify prices that researchers have argued are already poor value. More recently, the first hemophilia gene therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was priced by CSL Behring at $3.5 million; 26 more gene therapies are in late-stage development, according to IQVIA.

Persons: Elizabeth Kutschke, Ben, Zolgensma, Ben Kutschke, neurologists, Sitra Tauscher, Wisniewski, Ben's, Roger Hajjar, Brigham Gene, Kutschke, Vasant Narasimhan, Stacie Dusetzina, Roche's, Biogen, Roche, Maha Radhakrishnan, Steven Pearson, It's, Sree Chaguturu, Amanda Cook, Weston, Jackson, Cook, Elizabeth, Jerry Mendell, Russell Butterfield, –, Biogen's, Mendell, UMR, Spinraza, Eric Cox, Caroline Humer, Sara Ledwith Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Novartis, IQVIA Institute, Human Data, Novartis Gene Therapies, Mass, Cell Therapy, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, CSL Behring, CSL, Nashville's Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Clinical, Economic, CVS Health, Aetna, SMA, Nationwide Children's Hospital, University of Utah Health, Children's, UnitedHealth, Thomson Locations: Oak Park, Berwyn , Illinois, Swiss, U.S, Lebanon , Virginia, United States, Columbus , Ohio, Russia, Kazakhstan, Chicago

☆ BMW taps abstract artist Julie Mehretu to paint its latest Art Car
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Now, Ethiopian American artist Julie Mehretu, known for her work in abstract painting, has been chosen to create the company’s next Art Car. The first BMW Art Car was painted in 1975 by the American sculptor Alexander Calder after French racing driver Hervé Poulain brought the idea to BMW. The first woman to take on a BMW Art Car was South African artist Esther Mahlangu, who in 1991 painted a 525i sedan. Esther Mahlangu's Art Car featured the bold colors and geometric patterns used in the traditional arts and crafts of the Southern Ndebele people. Enes Kucevic/BMWMehretu’s will be the 20th BMW Art Car.

Persons: Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Jenny Holzer, Robert Rauschenberg, Julie Mehretu, Alexander Calder, Hervé Poulain, Poulain, Calder, Roy Lichtenstein, Warhol, Esther Mahlangu, Holzer, Esther Mahlangu's, Enes, Marian Goodman, Josefina Santos, BMW Mehretu, Madeleine Grynsztejn, ”, Julie, ” Grynsztejn, ” Mehretu, I've, ” Julian Kroehl, City’s Solomon R, hasn’t, Mehretu, “ Organizations: CNN, BMW, Ethiopian, Le, CSL, BMW Le, Fine Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, MacArthur, US Department of State, of, Pritzker, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Daytona, Guggenheim Museum Locations: Ethiopian American, American, African, Southern, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, United States, New York, Daytona Beach , Florida, New

CNN —South Korean soccer star Son Jun-ho has been arrested in China for allegedly accepting bribes as Beijing clamps down on alleged corruption in the upper ranks of Chinese football. A South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday the ministry was aware of Son’s situation and that local Korean diplomatic missions were providing consular assistance. Wang said China would provide South Korean officials with the “necessary facilitation” to perform their consular duties. The Korea Football Association (KFA) said it had written to the Chinese Football Association and the Asian Football Confederation regarding the player on Tuesday but had not yet heard back. Vice President Kim Jeong-bae was checking on Son’s condition with the South Korean Foreign and Sports Ministries, a KFA official told CNN.

☆ Vaccine makers prep bird flu shot for humans 'just in case'; rich nations lock in supplies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | Thomson Reuters | Jen Reports On Health Issues Affecting People Around The World | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

There has also been a push among companies to develop a bird flu vaccine for poultry, a market potentially far larger than that for humans. Many countries' pandemic plans say flu shots should go first to the most vulnerable while supply is limited. The agreements include six of the largest seasonal flu manufacturers, such as GSK, Sanofi and CSL Seqirus, the WHO said. NEW APPROACHESIn a pandemic, vaccine manufacturers would shift production of seasonal flu vaccines and instead make shots tailored to the new outbreak when needed. The results will be closely watched, as the data on Moderna’s seasonal flu candidate was mixed.

☆ I make about $6,500 donating plasma over 100 times a year, but I don't do it for the money
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Emily Swaim | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Patrick Herdener donates plasma twice a week, every week and makes between $50-$70 per donation. Herdener said he started donating for money but the spirit of being helpful motivates him now. To be honest, when I first started donating plasma, the main thing that motivated me was money. I started donating more often when I learned where my plasma was going. Patrick Herdener has been donating plasma twice a week for 13 years.

☆ Flu experts gather with H5N1 risk on the agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But it is also a chance to discuss the risk of animal viruses spilling over to humans and causing a pandemic. At this week's meeting, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b was a key topic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and global flu experts told Reuters. They will brief reporters on both the seasonal flu vaccine composition and spillover risks later on Friday. "We need to really continue the efforts for a flu pandemic." A number of companies that produce seasonal flu vaccines can also make pandemic flu vaccines.

☆ The artificial intelligence war has Wall Street in a frenzy over Google, Microsoft, and anything related to bots
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In case you missed it, last week Microsoft held an event that had the buzz of a Steve Jobs iPhone launch. Google Bard VS OpenAI ChatGPT displayed on Mobile with Openai and Google logo on screen seen in this photo illustration. In this two-horse race, Google certainly didn't do itself any favors in bumbling its own AI demo last week. But the battle will ultimately come down to Microsoft and Google, according to venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. Record highs for the stock market are within reach this year, according to Fundstrat.

If usual recommendations like driving for Uber or pet-sitting haven't worked for you, consider these 5 side hustle ideas for extra cash. Here are some of the most common side hustles that people try, and how much they pay on average, according to the employment website Indeed. If you've already exhausted these common side hustle ideas, here are five others that can help you earn an extra $500 per month. If you have extra time on nights or weekends, you can use apps like Handy or Maids App to find extra work. Since most Americans do their shopping online, warehouse jobs are here to stay, plus they offer flexible hours.

☆ Ronaldo's Saudi switch another symbol of Chinese decline
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Michael Church | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Portuguese striker's Saudi Arabia switch following the cancellation of his Manchester United contract has highlighted a shift within Asian football that started before the COVID-19 pandemic and which continues to have a significant impact. With money pouring into clubs often owned by debt-fuelled property developers, the Chinese Super League (CSL) had been enticing an increasing number of leading players and coaches to the country since early last decade. The downturn in Chinese football has spared few. Two-time Asian champions Guangzhou FC, once Chinese football's dominant force, went into decline after their owners, developers China Evergrande, were forced to limit funding after the government restricted borrowing. With attention now squarely focused on the oil-funded riches on offer in a newly assertive Saudi Arabia, Chinese football's lustre has all but disappeared.

☆ U.S. new drug price exceeds $200,000 median in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Deena Beasley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The median annual price of the 17 novel drugs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved since July 2022 is $193,900, down from $257,000 in the first half of 2022, Reuters found. For full year 2022, the median was $222,003. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsIn 2021, the median annual price was $180,000 for the 30 drugs first marketed through mid-July, according to a study published recently in JAMA. Health insurers and other payers often demand discounts and rebates for prescription drugs once competing treatments become available. As patents expire, lower-cost generics also mitigate prescription drug price inflation, which in the 12 months through November 2022 was 1.9%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

☆ Pfizer's hemophilia B gene therapy succeeds in late-stage study
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 29 (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Thursday its experimental gene therapy for the treatment of hemophilia B, a rare inherited blood disorder, met its main goal in a late-stage study. The drugmaker licensed its hemophilia B gene therapy from Roche's (ROG.S) Spark Therapeutics unit in 2014 for a $20-million upfront payment. Pfizer plans to discuss the late-stage data with regulatory authorities in Europe and the United States and share additional data for the experimental therapy at a scientific conference in early 2023. According to government data, the estimated prevalence of hemophilia in the United States is 12 cases per 100,000 males for hemophilia A and 3.7 cases per 100,000 males for hemophilia B. In November, the U.S. health regulator approved the first gene therapy, CSL Ltd and uniQure's Hemgenix, to treat hemophilia B.Pfizer is also testing other experimental gene therapies in late-stage trials as potential treatments for the bleeding disorder hemophilia A and muscular disorder Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

☆ Drug Prices Reach New High—in the Millions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Peter Loftus | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The most recent gene therapy approved in the U.S. set a price record: $3.5 million for CSL’s Hemgenix, a treatment for hemophilia B. A new era of expensive drugs has arrived: medicines priced in the millions of dollars a patient. Since August, U.S. or European health regulators have approved four new products intended as one-time treatments for rare genetic diseases that carry list prices of at least $2 million a patient, including two from Bluebird Bio Inc.

☆ EU regulator backs gene therapy to treat rare bleeding disorder
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies CSL Ltd FollowUniqure NV FollowDec 16 (Reuters) - The European Union's health regulator on Friday said it had recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for a gene therapy by Australian drugmaker CSL Ltd (CSL.AX) and partner uniQure N.V. , to treat haemophilia B, a rare bleeding disorder which is caused by genetic anomalies. About one in 40,000 people are affected by the inherited disorder, caused by a gene mutation that hampers the body's ability to make clotting protein factor IX. If approved, the treatment, branded Hemgenix, will be the first gene therapy in the European Union for the condition that is usually treated by regular injections of factor IX, the European Medicines Agency said. CSL had acquired exclusive global rights to Hemgenix in May last year from uniQure N.V. Reporting by Amna Karimi in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The most expensive drug in the world has a $3.5 million price tag. 2 potential patients share their hopes and fears for the one-time treatment.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The FDA has approved a new gene therapy to treat hemophilia B, a genetic bleeding disorder. The drugmaker CSL Behring set a $3.5 million price for the one-time treatment. Lackey is learning to live with a severe case of hemophilia B, a rare genetic condition that keeps blood from clotting properly. But a critical unknown in judging CSL's $3.5 million price is the durability of the treatment. Lojewski said the $3.5 million price wasn't guided by other gene-therapy prices.

☆ The most expensive drug in the world just got approved at $3.5 million, and hemophilia patients are conflicted: 'Compared to what we pay, it doesn't seem too terrible.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The FDA has approved a new gene therapy to treat hemophilia B, a genetic bleeding disorder. Hemophilia patients told Insider they're excited about the new drug but worried about the price. Lackey is learning to live with a severe case of hemophilia B, a rare genetic condition that keeps blood from clotting properly. While the treatment breaks ground as the first approved gene therapy for hemophilia, its price is also unprecedented. Lojewski said the $3.5 million price wasn't guided by other gene-therapy prices.

☆ Regulators have approved the world's most expensive medicine that costs $3.5 million per patient
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FDA approved a treatment costing $3.5 million, making it the world's most expensive medicine. Hemgenix effectively treated several patients with the blood condition Hemophilia B in trials. An independent study said a fair price for the drug would be about $2.9 million. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyUS regulators have approved a hemophilia drug that will cost $3.5 million per patient, making it the world's most expensive medicine. However, the drug will have a list price of $3.5 million per dose, Managed Healthcare Executive reported, making it the world's most expensive medicine by some distance.

☆ FDA approves $3.5 million treatment for hemophilia, now the most expensive drug in the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Hemgenix, a new drug to treat hemophilia. Manufacturer CSL Behring set the price at $3.5 million per treatment, making it the most expensive drug in the world. In a recent cost-effectiveness analysis of the drug, weighing health benefits against offset costs, ICER suggested that a fair price for the drug to be between $2.93 million and $2.96 million. According to an analysis by GoodRx, the most expensive drug in the US previously was Zolgensma, which was approved by the FDA in 2019 to treat spinal muscular atrophy and priced at $2.1 million for a course of treatment. FDA approved Hemgenix based on safety and effectiveness evaluated in two studies of about 60 adult men.

Search resuls for: "CSL"

25 mentions found