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☆ Fact Check-Experts say Pfizer COVID vaccine trials did not cause more miscarriages and there is no evidence of COVID-19 vaccine impact on fertility
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Women who got pregnant during Pfizer’s COVID vaccine trials did not have an unusual rate of miscarriage, experts said as they responded to an online video. This is a miscarriage rate of 14%, which is within the “normal” or expected rate of miscarriage per pregnancy, Male said. They also said there is no evidence of impact from COVID-19 vaccines on fertility. Pfizer started a global trial of pregnant women in February 2021. There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines affect fertility and pregnancies during Pfizer’s COVID vaccine trials did not have an unusual rate of miscarriage.

☆ Gig workers still pose roadblock for Uber and Lyft
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Uber Technologies (UBER.N) and Lyft (LYFT.O) dodged a pothole, but bigger roadblocks may be on the horizon. Jefferies estimates Uber, Lyft and food delivery service DoorDash (DASH.N) will avoid a $20 million to $170 million knock on next year’s earnings thanks to the ruling. A group of Uber and Lyft drivers in New York City staged a strike in February over demands for higher wages. And with a tight job market, competition for workers from employers in other sectors – like retailers, which are hiking minimum wages – is stiff. The Biden administration could still step in, too, having proposed new guidelines for classifying independent workers as employees.

☆ Pfizer’s $43 bln deal is a pricey pipeline fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Pfizer (PFE.N) has found a partial, costly replacement for waning sales of Covid-19 vaccines. The $225 billion pharmaceutical giant said Monday it had agreed to shell out $43 billion for oncology specialist Seagen (SGEN.O), inclusive of net debt. Snag is, Pfizer’s return will probably be low, and the deal may not even receive antitrust approval. Add estimated savings of $1 billion and the result is $1.2 billion of operating profit after tax, assuming the statutory corporate rate. That’s about a 3% return on the purchase price, similar to what Breakingviews estimated when news of talks leaked in February.

☆ Mark Zuckerberg takes on Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Mark Zuckerberg is eyeing Elon Musk’s turf. Meta Platforms (META.O) is exploring a stand-alone social network for sharing text updates, according to a statement from the social media network to Breakingviews on Monday. The move makes sense since Facebook and Instagram have done a better job wringing money from their users than Twitter has. Since Musk bought Twitter in October 2022, the network has been plagued by technical difficulties and fleeing advertisers. Zuckerberg has a business model that knows how to monetize users, whereas Twitter is still figuring that out.

☆ Ritchie founder perfects disappointed dad routine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The company stretching for its acquisition has done something worse: It disappointed dad. Ritchie investors are expected to approve the fiercely contested deal on Tuesday, a surprising outcome, especially to company co-founder David Ritchie. The pair didn’t speak out before because they assumed, given the weight of opposition to the deal, it was dead. If she succeeds, shareholders better hope her optimistic deal math holds up. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ CIOs Nominate Their Favorite Reads of 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Tom Loftus | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

Chief information officers, ever alert to any development in a field that only hurtles forward, largely reflected that alacrity in their choice of reading during 2022. PREVIEWChris Bedi, chief digital information officer, ServiceNow Inc. Photo: IBM Corp.Ron Guerrier, chief information officer, HP Inc. Photo: Cisco Systems Inc.Fletcher Previn, chief information officer, Cisco Systems Inc. Photo: Home Depot Inc.Fahim Siddiqui, chief information officer, Home Depot Inc.

☆ White House announces steps to counter winter wave of Covid infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Shannon Pettypiece | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — White House officials on Thursday announced steps to provide more Covid testing, vaccinations and supplies as case numbers tick up in another winter wave of coronavirus infections. The Biden administration says it will offer more free at-home Covid tests, boost efforts to vaccinate nursing home residents and prepare supplies that can be sent to states in need. Starting Thursday, the White House will make another round of free Covid tests available by allowing households to order up to four at-home tests from Covidtest.gov. The administration official said the White House expects infections to continue to rise as more people gather indoors for holiday celebrations in the coming weeks. The senior administration official said the administration has distributed 6 million courses of Paxlovid to local communities and indicated that it is confident there will be enough supply to meet demand.

☆ Fact Check-Pfizer CEO is not resigning and did not say mRNA vaccines 'don’t work'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Social media users in early December 2022 have falsely claimed that Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, has resigned after allegedly saying that mRNA vaccines are unsafe and ineffective. A Pfizer spokesperson told Reuters via email, “Albert Bourla continues to serve as the chairman and CEO of Pfizer. Multiple studies have shown that mRNA vaccines are safe and effective (here), (here), (here), (here). Pfizer confirmed that CEO Albert Bourla is not resigning. Update Dec. 16, 2022: Updates headline to clarify that Albert Bourla is not resigning and did not say mRNA COVID-19 vaccines don’t work.

☆ POTS, a debilitating heart condition, is linked to Covid and, to a lesser degree, vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Research published Monday has confirmed a link between a Covid infection and a debilitating heart condition called POTS, or postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, that has been diagnosed in some patients with long Covid. POTS was also linked, to a lesser degree, to Covid vaccination with an mRNA vaccine, according to the new study. He also said that the link between POTS and Covid vaccination needs to be confirmed with further studies. Other vaccines have also been linked to POTS in early accounts, but further research did not establish a causal link. The link between an infection — including Covid — and POTS, however, is more well-established.

☆ FDA authorizes updated Covid booster shots for kids under 5
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. regulators on Thursday cleared doses of the updated Covid-19 vaccines for children younger than age 5. Omicron-targeted booster shots made by Moderna and Pfizer already were open to everyone 5 and older. Children under 5 who already got all three Pfizer doses aren’t yet eligible for an updated booster. “Vaccines remain the best defense against the most devastating consequences of disease caused by the currently circulating omicron variant,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said in a statement. The CDC last month released the first real-world data showing that an updated booster, using either company’s version, does offer added protection to adults.

☆ Fact Check-A video of news headlines over time is not proof COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective or a ‘scam’
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Users on social media are sharing a video of news headlines and portions of articles on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness over time without context to question whether the vaccines ever worked. Initial clinical trials for Pfizer’s vaccine showed 95% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 (here) while Moderna trials showed 94% efficacy (here). CONTEXT COUNTSEarly in the viral video, headlines touting 100% efficacy refer to small trials or specific outcomes. He added that these results are not indicative of vaccine effectiveness for all groups of people, which can vary. A video of news headlines is not proof the vaccines are ineffective or a scam.

☆ FASB Again Aims for More Disclosure on Taxes From U.S. Companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The Financial Accounting Standards Board on Wednesday said it wants companies to provide more information on their income taxes, the group’s latest attempt to give the public more detail on the companies they invest in. At least once a year, public companies have to disclose the amount of cash taxes they pay. Companies must also disclose their effective tax rate, or the ratio between their tax expense and their pretax income. The first proposal came in 2016 and would have required companies to distinguish their U.S. from their foreign income taxes, among other changes. This time, it sought a breakout of the amount of federal, state and foreign taxes public companies paid, as well as disclosure on a quarterly basis.

People who got the updated booster shots after two or more shots of the original vaccine were compared to another group of people who received only two or more doses of the original vaccine. The updated booster shots performed better in preventing infections in all adult age groups, with higher vaccine efficacy seen in people who waited longer before getting the updated booster, the CDC found. He noted that studies have shown longer intervals between Covid vaccine doses can lead to higher antibody levels. Previous Covid infections may be underreported, the agency said, and low uptake of the updated boosters could have affected the results. New subvariants BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 are on the rise in the U.S., she said, and it’s unclear how the updated boosters will perform against those strains.

Pfizer-BioNTech's updated booster shot generates a stronger immune response against the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 compared with the original Covid vaccine, the companies said in a release Friday. Pfizer's original vaccine formula, which was first administered to older adults in December 2020, was designed to target the original coronavirus strain. The updated booster shot is designed to target the original virus strain, as well as BA.4 and BA.5, in a single shot. Two independent studies posted online late last month suggested that the updated shots do not offer better protection against the new omicron subvariants than the original vaccines do. The new findings may hint that the updated booster is better than the original vaccine, but not by much, said John Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College.

☆ RSV vaccine for kids: Pfizer shot for pregnant women protects infants from severe illness
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

An experimental RSV vaccine for pregnant women from Pfizer is effective at protecting newborns against severe illness for at least six months, the company said in a press release Tuesday. The vaccine was also about 70% effective against severe infections through the first six months of life. Pfizer said in a statement that it is currently not conducting an RSV vaccine trial in infants. Pfizer's RSV vaccine could be "a major step forward so that we can attack this last really bad communicable disease of the neonatal period," Schaffner said. Aside from pregnant women, Pfizer is testing its vaccine in older adults, who are also at risk for severe RSV infections.

☆ Pfizer Hasn’t Moved Past the Pandemic Just Yet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( David Wainer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pfizer ’s stock has gone from being a star in 2021 to a pharma laggard this year. Much of that has to do with the trajectory of the pandemic. Like no other large company in the U.S., Pfizer’s story has become uniquely tethered to Covid-19. Its two top products, the Covid-19 vaccine and the antiviral pill Paxlovid, are now expected to generate $56 billion in sales this year, Pfizer said Tuesday, raising the outlook for the vaccine by $2 billion. That represents around half of total sales, which the company on Tuesday predicted will come in the $99.5 billion to $102 billion range.

☆ RSV vaccine trial shows promising results, Pfizer says; company will seek FDA approval this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Pfizer’s vaccine candidate is administered to pregnant women who then make antibodies that cross the placenta and protect the baby after birth. In March, the FDA designated Pfizer’s RSV vaccine a breakthrough therapy, a status that speeds its review. Pfizer’s vaccine contains the virus’ F-protein, the site that it uses to attach to human cells. Pfizer’s RSV vaccine is bivalent, containing F-proteins from both the A and B subgroups of the RSV virus, which are the two most commonly circulating strains. “Further analysis to better understand safety data from these trials is ongoing,” spokesperson Alison Hunt said in a statement to CNN.

☆ Pfizer Squares Off With Merck, Other Drugmakers Over Lucrative Pneumonia Vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The number of pneumococcal vaccine doses administered in the U.S. rose 12% from a year ago. Rival drugmakers are seeking to upend Pfizer Inc.’s dominance of the $7 billion worldwide market for pneumonia vaccines, launching what is shaping up to be one of the industry’s fiercest battles. Merck & Co. has already introduced a new competitor to Pfizer’s Prevnar vaccine franchise, while GSK PLC and Vaxcyte Inc. are among companies developing shots that aim to win sales by protecting against even more strains of the pneumonia virus.

☆ Merck Is Coming for Pfizer’s Pneumonia Vaccine Market Share
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Drugmakers Fight Over Lucrative Pneumonia Vaccines
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ New RSV vaccines may soon put an end to rough seasons
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Brenda Goodman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +15 min

The monoclonal antibody, Synagis, is given monthly during RSV season to protect preemies and other high-risk babies. In the failed RSV vaccine trial, the chemical the researchers used to deactivate the virus denatured its proteins – essentially flattening them. Four companies have RSV vaccines for adults in the final phases of human trials: Pfizer and GSK are testing vaccines for pregnant women as well as seniors. Janssen, Pfizer and GSK each appear effective at preventing infections in adults for the first RSV season after the vaccine. The vaccines for pregnant women are meant to get newborns through their first RSV season.

☆ Omicron subvariants pose a new threat to people with immune deficiencies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

Troubling recent reports reveal the emergence of new omicron subvariants that not only evade AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, the antibody drug authorized to prevent Covid infection, but also the sole antibody drug that has retained effectiveness as treatment for Covid, Eli Lilly’s bebtelovimab. Doctors have cautioned that should Laura get Covid, this could aggravate her autoimmune disease and lead to catastrophic kidney damage. Evusheld is a long-acting antibody injection given every six months that studies have suggested provides a robust buffer to the immunosuppressed. For now, immunocompromised people are anxiously watching the pandemic forecast to see if the subvariants that research indicates evade monoclonal antibodies will become predominant. “If fewer people are prescribed Evusheld,” she said, “there’s less incentive for drug companies to start developing newer therapeutics.

Pfizer plans to sell the Covid vaccine it developed with BioNTech at $110 to $130 per dose for teens and adults once the U.S. government stops paying for them, the drugmaker said Friday. Since the start of the pandemic, the government has provided Americans with free Covid tests, vaccines and treatment, through a combination of funding from Congress and other government programs. The government has already stopped providing free Covid tests. A CDC advisory committee voted Wednesday to add Covid vaccines to the Vaccines for Children program, a federal plan that provides free vaccines to children eligible for or covered by Medicaid. Pfizer said it also plans to provide free vaccines to people without insurance through its patient assistance program.

☆ Pfizer’s Price Hike Shot in the Arm for Vaccine Makers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( David Wainer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

With fewer and fewer Americans opting for Covid-19 vaccine boosters, investors had been growing increasingly skittish about vaccine-makers Pfizer and Moderna Both stocks have underperformed their peers and are among the cheapest healthcare stocks, trading well below the industry average on a price-to-earnings basis. News late Thursday that Pfizer is planning to price its shot at $110 to $130 per dose in the U.S. is giving a lift to both stocks as investors rework their models to reflect the higher revenue starting next year when Pfizer expects to transition its vaccine to the commercial market. The federal government currently covers the cost of vaccines and is paying roughly $30 per dose under the latest contract. While investors had expected a hike as that coverage lapsed, “the magnitude of the price increase was well above expectations,” wrote Chris Schott , an analyst at JP Morgan. Pfizer was up 4.5% while Moderna rose 9% in early afternoon trading.

☆ Pfizer’s New Omicron-Targeting Booster Produces Strong Immune Response
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The retooled Covid-19 booster from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE generated a strong immune response against the Omicron substrains BA.4 and BA.5, the companies said. The data, which the companies reported in a news release Thursday, offer the first window into how the new shots rolling out across the U.S. perform.

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