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☆ Lower prostate cancer screening rates linked with more advanced cancers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe benefits of screening for prostate cancer have been controversial. At individual facilities, higher rates of screening were linked with lower rates of subsequent diagnoses of advanced cancers. But for every 10% decrease in screening, there was a corresponding 10% increase in metastatic prostate cancer incidence five years later, the researchers said. Rose noted that while the USPSTF advice to limit prostate cancer screening has resulted in lower rates of prostate cancer diagnoses, rates of metastatic prostate cancer have increased "more dramatically." A spokesperson for the USPSTF said an update to its prostate cancer screening recommendation is not currently underway.

☆ COVID variants BQ.1, BQ 1.1 make up 16.6% of U.S. cases - CDC
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The variants have spread quickly in the country in the last few weeks, particularly in New York. The CDC said on Friday that BQ.1 last week was estimated to make up 5.8% of circulating variants, while BQ.1.1 had made up 3.6% of all variants. New variants are monitored closely by regulators and vaccine manufacturers in case they start to evade protection offered by current shots. The World Health Organization this week said BQ.1.1 is circulating in at least 29 countries. The BA.5 variant is estimated to made up 62.2% of cases for the week of Oct 22, down from 70.2% in the week of Oct 15.

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoOct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Friday estimated that BQ.1 and closely related BQ.1.1 accounted for 16.6% of coronavirus variants in the country, nearly doubling from last week, while Europe expects them to become the dominant variants in a month. The two variants are descendants of Omicron's BA.5 subvariant, which is the dominant form of the coronavirus in the United States. New variants are monitored closely by regulators and vaccine manufacturers in case they start to evade protection offered by current shots. The World Health Organization this week said BQ.1.1 is circulating in at least 29 countries. The U.S. CDC said on Friday BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 last week were estimated to make up 9.4% of circulating variants.

☆ WHO says COVID-19 is still a global health emergency
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 19 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that COVID-19 remains a global emergency, nearly three years after it was first declared as one. The WHO's emergency committee first made the declaration for COVID-19 on Jan 30, 2020. Such a determination can help accelerate research, funding and international public health measures to contain a disease. "This pandemic has surprised us before and very well may again," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru and Jennifer Rigby in London; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Swiss to destroy 9 million expired Moderna COVID-19 jabs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Switzerland will destroy 9 million doses of Moderna (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine that have reached their expiry date, with another 5.1 million vaccine jabs set to meet the same fate by February, the government said on Wednesday. Other countries too have destroyed hundreds million of doses of expired vaccines. Since the end of 2020, Switzerland has got 31.9 million vaccine doses from Moderna and other suppliers, of which 16.1 million have been administered. Another 3.2 million were passed on to third countries, the government said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Michael Shields, Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. FDA authorizes Novavax's COVID vaccine as booster for adults
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized Novavax Inc's (NVAX.O) COVID-19 vaccine as a booster for adults. The booster authorization applies to people who are unable to get updated Omicron-tailored boosters, or those who would choose not to receive any other booster dose of a vaccine. The regulator's decision is in addition to the earlier clearance for the vaccine as a primary two-shot regimen for those 12 years and above. The company, however, has been struggling with sales of the vaccine and in August had halved its full-year revenue forecast, saying it does not expect further sales of its COVID-19 shot in the United States this year. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Abbott raises 2022 profit forecast for second time
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 19 (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) on Wednesday raised its annual earnings forecast for the second time, citing strong demand for medical devices and COVID-19 diagnostic tests. COVID-19 test kit sales were up $1.7 billion, compared to $1.9 billion last year and $2.3 billion in the second quarter, as testing declined amid a slower pace of infections. The company now expects $5.17-$5.23 per share in adjusted earnings this year, compared to at least $4.90 per share it forecast earlier. read moreAbbott said it expects around $7.8 billion in COVID-19 test sales this year, with $500 million in the fourth quarter, compared to the $6.1 billion it had forecast earlier. The Illinois-based company reported third-quarter worldwide sales of $10.4 billion, down 4.7% from a year ago.

☆ Drugmaker Merck: placed under formal investigation in France over Levothyrox
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Merck (MRCG.DE) said on Wednesday that it had been placed under formal investigation by a French court for possibly issuing misleading information regarding its thyroid drug product Levothyrox. Mario-Pierre Stasi, the lawyer for Merck, said the company would continue to co-operate with authorities on this matter and that full legal proceedings must be allowed to run their course. Merck added that the French court ruling did not concern in any way the new formula for the Levothyrox product. (This story has been refiled to remove incorrect stock ticker code)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Myriam Rivet;Editing by Dominique VidalonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How the Warehouse Boom Changed the Way America Looks, Lives, and Works
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

As the US emerged from the Great Recession, cheap real estate and the rise of e-commerce collided to create a warehousing boom. Now warehouse boomtowns shoot up in places like California's Inland Empire, Pennsylvania's Lehigh County, and Columbus, Ohio, and the number of warehouse workers has nearly tripled in a decade. Here, Insider explores how the rise of warehouses and warehouse work has changed the US and its citizens as we became a Warehouse Nation. A surge in warehouse workUsing data and on-the-ground reporting, Insider looked at the opportunities and hidden costs of the rise of warehouse work. Read more from 'Warehouse Nation'A look from Insider at how the warehouse boom has reshaped America.

☆ J&J beats estimates on demand for cancer drug
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) on Tuesday beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly revenue and profit on strong demand for its cancer drug Darzalex and Crohn's disease drug Stelara while projecting an easing of the hit from surging inflation. The company, which also sells medical devices and consumer health products such as Band Aids and painkiller Tylenol, tightened its full-year adjusted profit forecast range. J&J is the first drugmaker and medical devices firm to report third-quarter earnings and its shares rose 2.1% to $170.02 in premarket trading. The medical devices unit reported a 2.1% rise in sales to $6.78 billion on demand for contact lenses and wound-closure products. Total sales for the third-quarter rose 1.9% to $23.79 billion, topping estimates of $23.34 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

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☆ Roche sales decline more than expected as COVID products slide
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Ludwig Burger | Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Third-quarter revenue slipped to 14.74 billion Swiss francs ($14.84 billion), below market expectations of about 15.5 billion francs. Its bestseller Ocrevus gained 16% in sales to 1.52 billion francs during the quarter, while Hemlibra jumped 23% to 952 million francs, both excluding the effect of currency swings. However, analysts at brokerage Jefferies said sales gains in Hemlibra and cancer immunotherapy Tecentriq fell short of market expectations. It also reiterated that the percentage gain in core earnings per share would be in the "low- to mid-single digit" range. Roche repeated that keenly awaited trial data on experimental Alzheimer's drug gantenerumab was due to be published at the end of November.

☆ U.S. sends experimental antibody, antiviral drug to Uganda for Ebola outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

There are currently no proven vaccines or treatments for the Sudan species of Ebola, one of four known Ebola viruses to cause hemorrhagic fever in humans. The outbreak confirmed by the Ugandan health ministry on Sept. 20 is the largest of the Sudan species since 2000. "If healthcare workers start to fall ill and die, it's going to negatively impact the response," said Montgomery, who had just returned from a trip to Uganda. For instance, healthcare workers may be reluctant to assist in the response, he said in a phone interview. A large outbreak of the Zaire species of Ebola in West Africa from 2014-2016 led to effective vaccines and treatment, but there are no proven treatments or vaccines for the Sudan species.

☆ This startup wants to democratize electric-vehicle ownership by bringing charging stations to fast-food restaurants — starting with a Taco Bell in California
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The San Diego startup is installing public charging stations at fast-food chains such as Taco Bell. It says the fast chargers at a California Taco Bell can provide a 100-mile charge in 20 minutes. Roughly 120 California Taco Bell restaurants owned by Diversified are set to add EV stations in the coming months. Tosh Dutt, the CEO of ChargeNet, said he's carving a niche for his 2-year-old startup by placing stations at fast-food restaurants. Of the 47,666 public EV stations in the US, only about 6,500 are fast chargers, according to the Department of Energy.

☆ WHO: Global leaders commit $2.6 bln to end polio
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Global leaders committed $2.6 billion in funding at the World Health Summit on Thursday to end polio, the World Health Organization said. The funding will support global efforts to overcome the final hurdles to polio eradication, vaccinate 370 million children annually over the next five years and continue disease surveillance across 50 countries, the organisation said. "The new detections of polio this year in previously polio-free countries are a stark reminder that if we do not deliver our goal of ending polio everywhere, it may resurge globally,” said WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kirsti Knolle; editing by Matthias WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Addiction drug shows promise lifting long COVID brain fog, fatigue
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Lauren Nichols, who has long COVID, takes a break and rests in a lounge bed in the office in her home in Andover, Massachusetts, U.S., August 3, 2022. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterResearchers chasing long COVID cures are eager to learn whether the drug can offer similar benefits to millions suffering from pain, fatigue and brain fog months after a coronavirus infection. Younger, author of a scientific review of the drug as a novel anti-inflammatory, in September submitted a grant application to study LDN for long COVID. It worked so well that he ran a pilot study among 38 long COVID patients. He studied LDN in 18 long COVID patients, with 11 showing improvements, and said he believes larger, formal trials could determine whether LDN offers a true benefit.

☆ Hair-straightening products linked with uterine cancer risk -study
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Hair-straightening products may significantly increase the risk of developing uterine cancer among those who use them frequently, a large study published on Monday suggests. Uterine cancer is a relatively rare type of cancer," she added. Less frequent straightener use in the past year also was associated with an elevated uterine cancer risk, but the difference was not statistically significant, meaning it might have been due to chance. "These findings are the first epidemiologic evidence of association between use of straightening products and uterine cancer," White and colleagues wrote in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The link between straightener use and uterine cancer did not differ by race in the study.

☆ A merger with Albertsons could bring Kroger's tech initiatives, like automated warehouses and smart carts, to over 5,000 locations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Kroger is building its own tech infrastructure, including automated warehouses for delivery orders. Here are Kroger's biggest e-commerce and technology initiatives:A ClusterTruck ghost kitchen inside a Kroger in the Midwest. The delivery-focused ghost kitchen touts a Cheesecake Factory-inspired menu of 80 to 100 food items. Over the last few years, ClusterTruck opened locations inside Kroger stores in Indiana and Ohio. Another partnership, this one with the autonomous-car startup Nuro, has stationed self-driving vehicles to deliver grocery orders in certain cities since 2018.

☆ Long COVID at 12 months persists at 18 months, study shows
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Nancy Lapid | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Carlo AllegriOct 13 (Reuters) - Most patients with COVID-19 who have lingering symptoms at 12 months are likely to still have symptoms at 18 months, new data suggest. Among a subset of 197 survivors of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections who completed surveys at 12 months and 18 months, most reported lingering symptoms at both time points, researchers reported in Nature Communications. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterRates of no recovery at 12 months were 11% with 51% partial recovery and 39% complete recovery. At six months, 8% reported no recovery, 47% reported partial recovery, and 45% reported complete recovery. Those rates had barely changed at 12 months, with 8% reporting no recovery, 46% partial recovery and 46% complete recovery.

☆ Burger King, Popeyes, and Jack in the Box cut ties with ghost kitchen Reef as the SoftBank-backed startup continues to face operational issues
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Jack in the Box, Burger King, and Popeyes have ended their expansion plans with Reef. Burger King, Popeyes, Jack in the Box, and Del Taco have ended their partnerships with Reef Technology, a ghost-kitchen startup. Health inspectors in Austin, Texas, suspended four Reef food trailers after a recent inspection last month. In mid-September, Philadelphia inspectors cited a Reef kitchen trailer for having the wrong retail-operating license, food-safety inspection records show. Are you a Reef insider with insight to share?

Steve Ahern, KB PartnersSteve Ahern is a partner at KB Partners. Tixologi and its investors, including KB Partners, think blockchain is the answer. When used for ticketing, it can prevent counterfeiting by letting fans easily trace back to see if a ticket is authentic. While sports is a natural first market for Tixologi, Steve Ahern, a partner at KB Partners, said there's significant room to expand. "Real has done a very solid job developing a platform that keeps fans engaged around the most exciting moments in sports," Ahern told Insider.

☆ A wave of restaurant operators and high-profile chains like Chipotle and Burger King are investing millions in innovation amid a slowdown in food-tech funding. Here are 10 investing in ghost kitchens,
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"My dad says I'm taking the joy out of a restaurant," Frischling said. "If this industry doesn't keep up, we're not going to have so many restaurants," Frischling told Insider. Frischling is part of a wave of restaurant operators and high-profile chains investing millions in the industry's future. Over the years, Chipotle, Inspire Brands, and Restaurant Brands International — the owner of Burger King and Popeyes — have invested in autonomous-delivery vehicles, ghost kitchens, and digital-ordering software. IGC HospitalityThe New York restaurant company, also known as In Good Company Hospitality Group, invested in the restaurant-tech firm MarginEdge in 2021, according to PitchBook.

☆ Ghost kitchen startup Reef is facing new trailer shutdowns and violations. Insiders have long said it skirts health and safety regulations.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Austin health inspectors suspended four Reef food trailers after a recent inspection. And this month, Philadelphia inspectors cited a Reef kitchen trailer for having the wrong retail operating license, food-safety inspection records show. The company has previously said its engineless mobile kitchen vessels are difficult to inspect under existing permitting frameworks. "In every city where Reef operates, Reef seeks the appropriate permits," a Reef representative said in an email to Insider. The violation occurs when a kitchen trailer has not been authorized through the inspection process to sell and prepare food.

☆ Kroger is doubling down on its subscription delivery business as it weans itself off of Instacart. Here's a rundown of its other initiatives, from ghost kitchens to smart carts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Alex Bitter | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Here are Kroger's biggest e-commerce and technology initiatives:A ClusterTruck ghost kitchen inside a Kroger in the Midwest. ClusterTruckGhost kitchensIn December 2019, Kroger began improving its prepared meals offering by partnering with ghost kitchen startup ClusterTruck. The delivery-focused ghost kitchen touts a Cheesecake Factory-inspired menu of 80 to 100 food items. Over the last few years, ClusterTruck opened locations inside Kroger stores in Indiana and Ohio. But the firm, which tracks where consumers shop, said Kroger stores with the ghost kitchens are seeing an uptick in visits compared to neighboring Kroger branches.

☆ The Luxury Home Market Posts Its Biggest Decline in a Decade. ‘It’s Like Crickets.’
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Katherine Clarke | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When Nancy Lam upgraded in January to a home closer to her child’s school in the San Francisco Bay Area, she thought she had plenty of time to list her old house, a five-bedroom modern home in the sought-after suburb of Lafayette. After all, the pandemic had sent the luxury housing market soaring, and homes across the country were seeing aggressive bidding wars and selling for sky-high prices. Ms. Lam, a business professor, and her husband, who works in healthcare and declined to be named, took their time sprucing up the house in a bid to get the best possible price for the home, which they had bought for $1.67 million in 2014.

☆ The Luxury Home Market Posts Its Biggest Decline in a Decade. “It’s Like Crickets.”
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Katherine Clarke | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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