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☆ Eli Lilly has spent years and billions of dollars in search of an effective Alzheimer's drug. But success is not all or nothing for the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +22 min

Eli Lilly (LLY) has spent decades researching Alzheimer's disease without successfully bringing to market a treatment that slows the memory-destroying condition. For Eli Lilly as a company, an Alzheimer's drug is an important pursuit. Lilly's Alzheimer's history Eli Lilly's "first real foray" into Alzheimer's came in the 1990s, according to Dr. John Sims, Eli Lilly's head of medical development for donanemab. Financial implications for Lilly LLY mountain 2021-10-08 The Club started a new position in Eli Lilly (LLY) in October 2021. The Eli Lilly logo is shown on one of the company's offices in San Diego, California, September 17, 2020.

☆ Credit Suisse downgrades Danaher as Covid vaccine demand dwindles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Credit Suisse is shifting its perspective on shares of Danaher as the company's bioprocess business comes under pressure. Analyst Dan Leonard downgraded the medical stock to neutral from outperform, citing exposure to bioprocessing inventory reductions that could threaten Danaher's growth. "Danaher has reduced its near-term growth expectations for its Bioprocess business (~25% of 2022e sales, ex COVID testing) as COVID vaccine demand has fallen and customers reduce inventory," he wrote in a note to clients Thursday. He trimmed his price target to $300 from $315 a share, with sales and earnings per shares expectations through 2025 coming in below Wall Street's expectations. The fresh target implies a near 13% jump for the stock after it shed more than 19% in 2022.

☆ Silicon Valley is coming for your gut biome
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

SAN FRANCISCO — Cryptocurrency hasn’t worked out so well for tech investors. As a consumer product, supplements are associated more with the Kardashians or Joe Rogan than with Silicon Valley. Roelof Botha, the managing partner of Sequoia Capital, one of the largest venture capital firms in the world, is among those buying in. He said there’s a “societal reawakening” about the complex biome of the human gut where hundreds of species of bacteria live. She co-wrote a review of the science this year, and said future probiotic supplements have promise compared to supplements that have been available for decades.

They have found that in Puerto Rico, people have a higher propensity for Alzheimer's and part of the reason could be a genetic variant they have uncovered. While, in the U.S., 10.7% of the population age 65 and older has Alzheimer's, in Puerto Rico the number is 12.5%. In the U.S., it's the fifth-leading cause of death in those over 65 but in Puerto Rico, it ranks fourth in the same age group. It was more than three decades ago when Alzheimer’s genetic research pioneer Margaret Pericak-Vance was at Duke University that she began trying to involve more diverse populations in research. A variant only found among Hispanic CaribbeansDr. Katrina Celis, Director of Research Support Larry Adams, and Dr. Parker Bussies prepare to see Alzheimer’s patients and their families in Puerto Rico for Puerto Rico Alzheimers Disease Initiative, known as PRADI.

☆ Medical device makers drop products as EU law sows chaos
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Nicola Osypka's German company has been selling medical devices used in surgery on newborn babies in Europe for decades, but new European Union rules have forced her to make tough decisions. While some companies say the products they have cut have no impact on patients or profits, others say some of withdrawn devices are essential, and doctors agree. Under the EU's Medical Devices Regulation (MDR), which came into effect in May 2021, all medical devices, from implants and prosthetics to blood glucose meters and catheters, must meet stricter safety criteria, sometimes with new clinical trials. Under the old system, it took about 15,000 euros and a few months to get a similar device approved, he said. Tom Melvin, an associate professor of medical device regulatory affairs at Trinity College Dublin, said there were nearly 100 such agencies a decade ago under the old system.

The deal, which includes significant raises for the employees, ends the grad students' five-week strike. Sarah Reingewirtz / Los Angeles Daily News via Getty ImagesOn Friday evening, United Auto Workers, the union representing the striking student workers, hailed the tentative agreement and praised Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg for helping accelerate negotiations. The University of California said it would make health care accessible to the dependents of student employees and enhance paid family leave benefits. System president Michael V. Drake was pleased with Friday's outcome and recognized the workers' role in the system's lauded education and research. "Our Academic Student Employees and Graduate Student Researchers are central to our academic enterprise and make incredible contributions to the University’s mission of research and education," he said in a statement.

Experts recommend isolating first, then taking at least two rapid tests, spaced a day or two apart. But if you don't use rapid tests in the right way at the right time, they won't provide accurate results. According to early studies from the UK and the US Food and Drug Administration, rapid tests still work. If you're planning to mingle, take a rapid test just as you arrive, not hours beforeA rapid COVID-19 test, the Abbott BinaxNow, administered by a health department in Livingston, Montana. 'One layer of reducing risk'A 4-year-old gets a rapid COVID-19 test in Palos Verdes Estates, California, on August 24.

☆ Why colds and flu viruses are more common in winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It’s almost as if those pesky cold and flu germs whirl in with the first blast of winter weather. So why do people get more colds, flu and now Covid-19 when it’s chilly outside? It turns out the cold air itself damages the immune response occurring in the nose. Once created and dispersed out into nasal secretions, the billions of EV’s then start to swarm the marauding germs, Bleier said. Wearing a mask can protect you from cold air that can reduce your immunity, an expert says.

☆ Fact Check-PCR test for COVID-19 uses gene cloning but cannot be used to clone humans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits for COVID-19 use what’s known as gene cloning – not reproductive cloning – to detect the presence or absence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but social media posts claim that humans are being cloned using COVID-19 PCR tests. The claim appears to originate from an Aug. 18 segment of the Stew Peters Show titled, “Patent PCR Test Linked To Human Cloning Video Shows Animal Experiments, Cross Species Genetics” (here). The 2015 paper by Hoseini and Sauer explains methods for gene cloning with PCR and used a gene encoding a red fluorescent protein as its example. PCR tests for COVID-19 cannot be used for human cloning. Molecular cloning, or gene cloning, that is described in a 2015 paper about using PCR to copy individual genes is an entirely different process.

☆ James Webb telescope: New data on WASP-39b is a 'game changer,' scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a detailed molecular and chemical portrait of a faraway planet’s skies, scoring another first for the exoplanet science community. This “hot Saturn” was one of the first exoplanets that the Webb telescope examined when it first began its regular science operations. Bocaprins’ close proximity to its host star makes it an ideal subject for studying such star-planet connections. The planet is eight times closer to its host star than Mercury is to our sun. … We are already getting very exciting results,” Nestor Espinoza, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute, told CNN.

Vaping may increase a person's risk for cavities and tooth decay, preliminary new research suggests. Adding artificial sweeteners and flavorings to the sticky aerosol may create the perfect breeding ground for cavities. The new study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Dental Association, is considered preliminary and does not prove that vaping causes cavities. But because e-cigarette usage is so rampant among adolescents — with 2.5 million teens vaping in the United States alone — the possibility that it could increase the risk for tooth decay in this generation is worrisome, experts who study vaping in young people said. Among these high-risk patients, e-cigarette users, Irusa found, were at a "significantly" higher risk of developing cavities, compared with those who did not vape.

Fungal infections are more widespread than doctors or patients realize, research suggests. People generally get fungal infections after breathing in spores. Thompson’s paper came just weeks after another study revealed high rates of fungal disease diagnoses far outside their traditionally understood geographies. A World Health Organization report in October also found that severe fungal infections became more prevalent among people with pre-existing health issues during the Covid pandemic. In some cases, fungal infections can take months of treatment to clear and may become chronic.

☆ 'Zombie ant' fungi infected with parasites of their own
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Kate Golembiewski | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Over the years, he kept noticing something strange: a fuzzy white fungus growing on top of the zombie ant fungus. João Araújo“We realized that there were two different lineages of fungi, novel lineages of fungi, infecting one species of zombie ant fungus in Florida,” said Araújo, the study’s lead author. Checks and balancesThe fungi attacking the zombie ant fungus don’t, in turn, zombify their host, but they do feed on its tissues and appear to cause it harm. One of the new fungi, Niveomyces coronatus, causes the white coating on the zombie ant fungus. João AraújoThese new genera are the first parasites officially described as infecting the zombie ant fungus, but the researchers suspect there could be others out there.

☆ Cramer's lightning round: BioXcel Therapeutics may be home run or nothing
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Loading chart...4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc : "Regeneron is the horse to bet on, because it's been a great investment." Loading chart...SoFi Technologies Inc : "I do believe it's bottoming, but I don't know what gets it higher." Loading chart...BioXcel Therapeutics Inc : "It may be home run or nothing, and that's always tough." Loading chart...Veru Inc : "The test for [the company's Covid treatment pill] ... The FDA staff didn't seem to like it."

☆ High-performance computing saves the day
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Sponsor Post | Sponsored Microsoft Azure | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Whether there's a cyberattack or a heart attack, Microsoft Azure's high-performance computing solutions and Intel's processing speed empower Dataville's citizens to thwart danger, protect themselves, and innovate to create a better city. Dataville makes sustainable changesWhen Dataville senses that one unscrupulous factory in town is polluting the air, it's able to act quickly. Dataville provides better healthcareWhen Dataville citizens have a health crisis, healthcare providers can save the day. See how Microsoft Azure and Intel can give you superpowers. This post was created by Insider Studios with Microsoft Azure and Intel.

The Biden administration on Friday announced plans to significantly tighten regulations against methane emissions from domestic oil and gas drilling. The Environmental Protection Agency said the proposed standards would reduce methane from the oil and gas sector by 87% below 2005 levels. In the United States, oil and natural gas operations are the nation’s biggest industrial source of methane, according to the EPA. The Biden administration announced its plan to reduce methane emissions in November 2021 at the last U.N. Last year, the U.S. and the European Union launched the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce the world’s methane emissions by 30 percent by the end of the decade.

☆ U.S. FDA panel votes against Veru's COVID-19 pill
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The panel voted 8-5 against the oral drug sabizabulin's usage. The unfavorable vote decreases the chances of authorization for Veru, which is already lagging in the race to develop a COVID-19 treatment. If authorized, the pill would provide an additional treatment option as the disease moves from a pandemic to an endemic stage. While data has shown the drug can also produce antiviral and anti-inflammatory responses, the FDA staff reviewers have said its mechanism of action in COVID-19 was uncertain. The FDA is not obligated to follow the recommendations of the panel, but usually does.

☆ Amy Schumer calls out Ye for antisemitic remarks in SNL monologue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Amy Schumer called out Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, for his antisemitic remarks in her Nov. 5 "Saturday Night Live" monologue. The comedian, 41, called out Ye, 45, in the context of a joke about her husband, Chris Fischer, who she has said has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. His antisemitic comments also led sports brand Adidas, luxury fashion label Balenciaga, Gap and Foot Locker, among others, to end their business relationships with him. The latter restrictions were subsequently lifted, but Ye no long appears to have an active Twitter account. Sometimes, his remarks have included disavowing the diagnosis.

☆ Palm oil is in almost everything, and it's devastating rainforests. This Bill Gates-backed company used microbes to create an alternative
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Palm oil grows best in the regions right around the equator, so palm oil producers chop down rainforest and clear that felled vegetation by burning it, making it a prime target of conservation organizations like the Rainforest Rescue and the World Wildlife Fund. Palm oil trees grow at the Cikasungka palm oil plantation, operated by PT Perkebunan Nusantara VIII, in Bogor Regency in West Java, Indonesia, on Monday, June 20, 2022. To make its palm oil alternative, C16 Biosciences uses a wild yeast microbe that makes a functional equivalent to palm oil with a kind of fermentation process. Photo courtesy: Cat Clifford, CNBCChemically, the palm oil that C16 Biosciences makes is not identical to the palm oil that is grown in industrial agriculture farms. However, "it contains the same fatty acids, which are the molecular fingerprints of fats and oils, that palm oil does," Heller told CNBC.

That means vineyards - which have for centuries transplanted cuttings to ensure robust and flavourful fruit - are now looking for grape types that are more resistant to climate change. It has determined that vines aged 35 years and older appear to cope better with climate change because they are more genetically diverse. The lab's ultimate goal is to ensure winemakers plant specific vines proven to be "more adaptable to climate change conditions", said Carbonell. "We are very worried about climate change," said Iñigo Torres, director of Grupo Rioja, an association representing 60 wineries that together account for 80% of sales. The grapevines were transplanted after being carefully selected from another vineyard where RODA studies the behaviour of old vines - some up to 110 years old.

☆ New GSK shines brighter with another forecast upgrade
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Natalie Grover | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Shingrix generated quarterly sales of 760 million pounds ($873 million), compared with the GSK-compiled analyst consensus forecast for 685 million pounds. GSK shares hit a 2-1/2 month high of 1,470.2 pence in early trade and were last up 1% at 1,461.3 pence. GSK said it had incurred a charge of 45 million pounds in the third quarter, primarily reflecting provisions for increased legal fees related Zantac. Originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK, Zantac has been sold by companies including Pfizer (PFE.N), Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi (SASY.PA), as well as many generic drugmakers. GSK reported a third-quarter adjusted profit of 46.9 pence per share on sales of about 7.83 billion pounds, topping analysts' forecasts for 40.1 pence and 7.32 billion pounds.

☆ Top U.S. official urges caution with RSV, vaccine in development
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. officials are working on a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, but until one is available people should exercise caution, especially seniors and parents of young children, the nation's top infectious disease official said. A vaccine for the infectious respiratory disease will hopefully come within the next year or two, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci told MSNBC in an interview. RSV is not a new virus but it is a leading cause of pneumonia in toddlers and the elderly and can lead to hospitalization or death. While there is a higher concentration of RSV impacting U.S. children at the moment, it can also be a serious disease for older adults, he added. "If you're an elderly person, you are vulnerable to the serious consequences of RSV," Fauci told MSNBC.

☆ Fact Check-Guillain-Barré syndrome, Bell’s palsy, acute flaccid myelitis and transverse myelitis are not polio ‘renamed’
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Guillain-Barré syndrome, Bell’s palsy, acute flaccid myelitis and transverse myelitis are not polio “renamed”, despite claims posted online. It was NEVER eradicated, it's been renamed several times, Guillian Barre, Bells Palsy, Acute Flaccid Myelitis, Transverse Myelitis... Any neurological disorder has been renamed polio.”A similar post can be found here. Though primarily seen following an acute infection, GBS can also be a rare side effect of vaccination (here). Four medical syndromes with symptoms that can include muscle weakness and paralysis are not “polio renamed”, as claimed on social media. Poliovirus infection, while extremely rare, can lead to some of these syndromes, but the syndromes themselves also have other, more common causes and distinct symptoms.

☆ About 17 Americans die waiting for transplants each day. Scientists are trying to make more organs in 5 creative ways.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Courtesy of Leilani GrahamIf pig organs turn out to be just as effective as human organs, she added, "That is more appealing to me than using marginal donors." If the technique works for human organs in the future, it could allow clinicians to preserve many more organs for donation after death. Changing organs' blood typeEnzymes are delivered to a lung inside a perfusion machine at Dr. Marcelo Cypel’s lab. Growing synthetic organs from stem cellsResearcher Stormy Chamberlain holds a tray of stem cells at the University of Connecticut's Stem Cell Institute. Hanna started a company called Renewal Bio to pursue the possibility of turning stem cells into organs for transplants.

☆ Fact Check-Preventing transmission never required for COVID vaccines’ initial approval; Pfizer vax did reduce transmission of early variants
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

To get emergency approval, companies needed to show that the vaccines were safe and prevented vaccinated people from getting ill. They did not have to show that the vaccine would also prevent people from spreading the virus to others. Pfizer ‘vaccine’ wasn’t intended to prevent transmission. The newest family of Omicron variants has further eroded vaccine effectiveness against infection and transmission (here) . But even Omicron does not escape vaccine protection completely.

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