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In the West, only about 10 people have died of monkeypox this year, figures from the U.S. CDC show. No monkeypox vaccines are publicly available in Africa. But those failures are being repeated a year on with monkeypox, the health workers consulted by Reuters said. Congo health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani told Reuters Congo was in talks with the WHO to buy vaccines, but no formal request had been made. A WHO spokeswoman said that in the absence of available vaccines, countries should instead focus on surveillance and contact tracing.

☆ This undervalued biotech stock is earning some fans. Why Piper Sandler, Truist say it's time to buy
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Piper Sandler and Truist upgraded the stock to overweight and buy ratings, respectively, after the company topped earnings expectations for the recent quarter and shared upbeat guidance. Both firms said they anticipate solid growth from Gilead's oncology and HIV franchises going forward, saying now is the time to get in on the stock. Kim upped the firm's price target on the stock to $96 from $79 a share, suggesting 37% upside from Thursday's close. Truist's Robyn Karnauskas highlighted the potential of Gilead's cancer drugs and therapies in a note to clients, hiking the firm's price target on the stock to $91 per share. Gilead's stock jumped nearly 5% in Friday's premarket.

☆ Prince Harry’s memoir, titled ‘Spare,’ to come out in January
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK — Prince Harry’s memoir, an object of obsessive anticipation worldwide since first announced last year, is coming out Jan. 10. “For Harry, this is his story at last.”The memoir’s title is an apparent reference to Prince Harry’s being a royal “spare,” not the first in line to succession. William, Prince of Wales, is next in line. The 416-page book will come out in 16 languages, from Dutch to Portuguese, and also will be released in an audio edition read by Prince Harry. “Penguin Random House is honored to be publishing Prince Harry’s candid and emotionally powerful story for readers everywhere,” the global CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, said in a statement.

☆ Omicron subvariants are resistant to key antibody treatments, putting people with weak immune systems at risk of Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Emerging omicron subvariants are resistant to key antibody treatments for HIV patients, kidney transplant recipients and other immunocompromised people, making them particularly vulnerable to Covid this winter, the White House warned this week. While this may be true for the general population, it is not the case for people with weak immune systems. Evusheld is an antibody cocktail authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent Covid in people ages 12 and older who have moderately or severely compromised immune systems. Evusheld, made by AstraZeneca , has helped fill a gap in protection for those with weak immune systems who cannot mount a strong response to the vaccines. Jha acknowledged at the White House on Tuesday that the U.S. has dwindling treatment and prevention options for people with weak immune systems as Covid evolves.

☆ Flesh-eating bacteria: What to know about Vibrio vulnificus, and how to avoid it
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Vibrio vulnificus causes an estimated 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the United States every year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vibrio vulnificus is one of the bacteria that can cause what’s commonly known as a flesh-eating infection. Vibrio vulnificus infection is the leading cause of death related to eating seafood in the United States. With skin infections, a doctor will first take samples from the infected area to determine if Vibrio vulnificus is what’s causing the problem. Up to 50% of Vibrio vulnificus infections don’t respond to certain antibiotics anymore, studies show.

☆ In internal meetings and leaked documents, Amazon dreams of taking on Google's DeepMind by using machine learning to revolutionize drug discovery, genomics, clinical trials and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amazon held an internal machine learning conference last week. The deployment of machine learning across healthcare was a major topic. The event was all about machine learning, a powerful type of artificial intelligence that has already transformed Amazon's business and those of other tech giants. He was joined at last week's Amazon Machine Learning Conference by Amazon's chief medical officer Taha Kass-Hout. One of the workshops was about machine learning for "human health."

☆ Former employees at merchandise startup Spring complained about working with creators who spread misinformation and conspiracy theories, but said the company turned a blind eye: 'These people make the
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A second former Spring staffer echoed the first's concerns, telling Insider they were uncomfortable with the company letting Godlewski earn revenue using Spring's services. Five former staffers at Spring told Insider it was an open secret that the platform worked with problematic creators, oftentimes because these creators made the company a lot of money. All of the former employees Insider talked to spoke on condition of anonymity to protect career prospects. Five former employees told Insider that We Are Change, and other storefronts like it, were some of the platform's bestsellers. Most staffers knew about it, the first former employee told Insider, and kept it hidden from leadership.

☆ New York governor signs bill expanding assistance for LGBTQ seniors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Access to physical and mental health care, free or discounted meal deliveries, caregivers and other forms of support are now easier for LGBTQ seniors in New York state to get. The legislation requires the state’s Office for the Aging to consider gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and HIV status when it calculates which seniors need the most help. “This legislation is an important step in addressing those inequities while helping ensure LGBTQ older New Yorkers receive the same respect and support as anyone else in the state,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday. To address the disparities,Massachusetts, California and a number of other states have enacted laws in recent years expanding their interpretations of those with the “greatest social need” to include LGBTQ seniors and elders living with HIV. Tax said SAGE, which runs LGBTQ senior centers in New York City, has long been fighting for the change in New York.

☆ Palantir salaries revealed: Some engineers at the controversial analytics software company earn nearly $300,000. Here's what managers, analysts and other employees make.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Palantir is known for its controversial contracts providing analytics software to the US government and private companies. The company doesn't disclose salary data, but US companies must share offers made on H-1B visa applications. However, US companies have to disclose offers on work-visa applications. Notably, these figures only represent base salaries, but Palantir also offers some employees additional stock grants. The logo of the data analysis company Palantir can be seen at the company's headquarters in 2018.

☆ Gene-editing companies are growing thanks to fast-paced science, even as biotech faces a downturn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

CRISPR companies are faring better by producing faster and more dramatic clinical results. A layoff tracker from Fierce Biotech counts at least 90 drug companies that have laid off staff in 2022. Gene-editing biotechs have avoided the brunt of the downturn because of fast clinical successIntellia Therapeutics is developing CRISPR-based gene-editing medicines that could cure diseases. Just in the past month, CRISPR Therapeutics moved into a swanky new headquarters in Boston that can house up to 1,000 people. BeamTo be sure, 2022 hasn't been smooth sailing for the CRISPR companies.

Walmart Healthcare Research Institute, the largest U.S. retailer's new healthcare research service, will find participants for clinical trials, and Walmart also host MyHealthJourney, a patient portal that helps people find upcoming research trials and track their care. Walmart's expansion into clinical trial recruitment could bring it new streams of revenue from drug companies. Walmart is currently working with Laina Enterprises, a virtual clinical trial management platform, the retailer said in a press release. Rival Walgreens said in June it had launched clinical trial services to increase diversity in test subjects. Walmart opened Walmart Health locations in Dallas, Georgia in 2019 and now has 24 locations including in Arkansas, Florida and Illinois.

☆ A new study confirms it: The pandemic turned us all into jerks
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Graceless under pressureTo see how the pandemic affected us, researchers looked at the so-called Big Five personality traits: agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness. But the new study found a surprising shift during the pandemic — roughly equivalent to what they'd expect from 10 years of life, not two. During the first months of the pandemic, Sutin's team found little personality change. "The only thing that went wrong," says Brent Roberts, a psychologist and expert in personality change at the University of Illinois, "is the goddamn pandemic kept going." For some Americans, the most stressful thing about the pandemic was experts telling them they should help people they don't like.

☆ NeNe Leakes gives update after son suffers stroke and heart failure
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —NeNe Leakes has shared that her 23-year-old son is “struggling to speak” after suffering heart failure and a stroke two weeks ago. The former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member took to her Instagram stories on Monday to recount what happened to her son, Brentt. One theory, she said, is that he may have contracted Covid-19, which can lead to issues with the heart. Leakes said neither she nor her her son knew him to have had the virus. Doctors, she said, have also theorized that he may have had congenital heart issue since birth that they had not been previously aware of.

☆ A series of mega-blockbuster drugs are on the horizon. How to invest in the trend
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-08 | by ( Christina Cheddar Berk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"That said, the biggest drugs usually feature one, or best case two, of these attributes." Seven drugs on Meacham's list are already in the market, and have already hit the $10 billion or more benchmark. That means some of these drugs may be already hitting the end of their peak sales period. Meacham has previously said that one of the drugs in this bucket, Eli Lilly's tirzepatide, could be the first $100 billion drug . But many investors are hopeful about its potential as an obesity treatment .

Sept 28 (Reuters) - A federal judge in New York has frozen the assets of dozens of people and entities accused of operating a massive nationwide scheme to distribute counterfeit bottles of Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) HIV drugs, including two alleged "kingpins." HIV drugs accounted for $7.6 billion of Gilead's $12.6 billion revenue in the first half of the year. read moreThe newly added defendants include alleged "kingpins" Lazaro Roberto Hernandez, who was arrested on drug counterfeiting and money laundering charges in June as part of a related federal investigation and remains under house arrest, and Armando Herrera, who lives in Florida. The Foster City, California-based company first announced it was pursuing counterfeiters in August 2021, shortly after filing its lawsuit. read moreIn addition to the alleged kingpins, the case now includes alleged mid-level leaders and a complex web of shell companies, distributors and pharmacies.

☆ Life after monkeypox: Men describe an uncertain road to recovery
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +16 min

Following recovery from this skin lesion–causing virus, people often find themselves waiting anxiously over the course of months to see whether monkeypox will leave them with permanent scarring. The marks are also signals of an infection that because it largely transmits through sex between men, can be highly stigmatized. Gerald Febles points to a scar left from his monkeypox outbreak. He founded a Zoom-based monkeypox support group for people with the virus he met mainly through social media. “I need to get back to my normal life,” said Galaise, who works for a New York City governmental agency.

CNN —A criticism of US lawmakers by the President of South Korea has gone viral on social media – after a hot mic picked him up using an expletive. In a video published by South Korean television broadcaster MBC on its official YouTube channel on Thursday, Yoon can be seen walking along the stage after chatting with Biden before turning to his aides and speaking. The Global Fund is an international organization trying to defeat HIV, TB and malaria across the developing world and Yoon’s remark appears to be a reference to Biden’s pledge to contribute $6 billion, which would require Congress approval. Many social media users have taken to mocking Yoon, while the expletive he used has become a popular search term on the South Korean online portal Naver. His remarks were not lost on members of the opposition liberal party who commented on the issue at Thursday’s National Assembly.

☆ Hot mic catches South Korean president insulting US Congress, describing them as 'idiots'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol was captured on a hot mic reportedly disparaging American lawmakers. Yoon was overheard calling members of US Congress "idiots" in a now-viral clip. The remarks were made after Yoon met with US President Joe Biden in New York City. Yoon and Biden met Wednesday at the Global Fund's Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York City. The South Korean president's remark was apparently in reference to Biden pledging $6 billion in funding to the Global Fund, an international organization that aims to defeat HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York, U.S., September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Leah MillisUNITED NATIONS/NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria on Wednesday reached $14.25 billion pledged as world leaders seek to fight the killer diseases after progress was knocked off course by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Fund said the $14.25 billion figure is likely to increase as more donations are expected. We will end AIDS, we will end tuberculosis, we will end malaria – once and for all," she said. Nigeria pledged $13.2 million, the Netherlands pledged 180 million euros and Indonesia pledged $15.5 million, alongside private sector pledges.

☆ New bill aims to curtail surprise medical bills for sexual assault survivors
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Aria Bendix | Aria Bendix Is The Breaking Health Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

A bill introduced Monday in the House of Representatives would require private health insurance to cover forensic exams for sexual assault survivors in full. For an exam to be free under the law, it must be conducted by an accredited nurse known as a sexual assault nurse examiner, or SANE, but many victims of sexual violence don't know to seek that out. The new bill was introduced by Reps. Linda T. Sánchez, D-Calif.; Gwen Moore, D-Wis.; and Carol Miller, R-W.Va. The lawmakers' hope is that survivors with private insurance would not get billed for an exam, regardless of where it's performed. "This legislation is needed because too many survivors, grappling with trauma, also become burdened with the cost of a forensic medical exam — even though they shouldn’t be," Moore said in a statement.

☆ 'Out of control' STD situation prompts call for changes
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

“It is imperative that we ... work to rebuild, innovate, and expand (STD) prevention in the U.S.,” said Dr. Leandro Mena of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a speech Monday at a medical conference on sexually transmitted diseases. Last year the rate of syphilis cases reached its highest since 1991 and the total number of cases hit its highest since 1948. Annual congenital syphilis cases numbered only about 300 a decade ago; they surged to nearly 2,700 last year. But some experts say the government needs to provide more funding for STD work, not divert it. Mena, who last year became director of the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, called for reducing stigma, broadening screening and treatment services, and supporting the development and accessibility of at-home testing.

☆ Merck to start studying lower dose of HIV drug after FDA hold
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe Merck logo is seen at a gate to the Merck & Co campus in Rahway, New Jersey, U.S., July 12, 2018. The FDA has reviewed and agreed with the plan to study lower-dose versions of the once-daily pillfor treating HIV patients, the company said. The drugmaker, however, said it was discontinuing development of a once-a-month dose of islatravir for preventing HIV infection. Some studies using a higher-dose version of islatravir remain under clinical hold. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Manas Mishra and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Gen Z is increasingly using TikTok videos instead of Google search, but 1 in 5 of them contain misinformation, a new study says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A new study by a site that tracks online misinformation found that 1 in 5 videos on TikTok contain misinformation. The study found that TikTok often yields more partisan search results than Google. Gen Z users are increasingly turning to TikTok instead of Google as their primary search engine. Gen Z users have begun replacing Google with TikTok as their primary search engine, The New York Times recently reported. A new study by NewsGuard, a site that monitors misinformation across the internet, found that one in five search results on TikTok contains misinformation.

☆ Queen Elizabeth II ruled through decades of change on gay rights, but her LGBTQ legacy is complicated
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

In 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II took the throne after the death of her father, same-sex sexual relations were criminalized in Britain. That support has led some to argue that she was a “quiet” supporter of LGBTQ rights, but to others she was just doing her job. Queen Elizabeth II waves to the crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London following her coronation, on June 3, 1953. Queen Elizabeth II gave both of the measures her royal assent and went on to continue to approve pro-LGBTQ policies. Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, ahead of the ship's maiden deployment, on May 22, 2021.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting Friday, where they're expected to discuss the war in Ukraine. In April, Biden and Ramaphosa had "a frank and open conversation about what was happening in Ukraine," a senior administration official said, previewing the meeting. Ramaphosa has refrained from condemning Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and his country has largely remained neutral during the conflict. Ramaphosa, 69, has served as the president of South Africa since 2018 and also is president of the African National Congress. He previously was the chairperson of the African Union and was the deputy president of South Africa.

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