Elizabeth Holmes Trial Could be Delayed Until 2021 Due to COVID-19 Surge

The criminal fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes could be delayed until 2021 due to continuing concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19. The trial was initially scheduled for July, but in April had been postponed until October due to the pandemic. A final decision will be made in August.

As CNBC reported Monday, U.S. District Judge Edward Davila speculated about the delay of the trial as he noted the courts are “guided by the cloud of COVID.” When he initially delayed the trial to October, Davila said he would extend it if COVID-19 continued to rage across the state. In California, there have been more than 400,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and Gov. Gavin Newsom initiated new lockdowns on businesses following a mid-summer surge of new cases.

Davila’s position regarding the novel coronavirus was echoed by the attorneys for Holmes. During a Zoom conference call, Lance Wade, a Holmes’ attorney, argued that it’s not safe to begin a trial at this time.

“Proceeding in the midst of a pandemic comes with great risks,” Wade said, according to CNBC. “We think a trial anytime soon is just not realistic, it’s just not safe. If we’re forced to do it we will do it, but it endangers people and we prefer not to.”

Prosecuting attorneys, though, argued they were ready to begin a trial in October. During the call, attorneys for the state said it was important for an expeditious trial given the amounts of money involved in the Holmes’ fraud case.

“The fraud here is in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” U.S. Attorney Robert Leach said.

Holmes and former Theranos President Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani are facing multiple counts of fraud related to the blood-testing company. From 2013 to 2015 Holmes and Balwani raised more than $700 million from investors through what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission called “years-long fraud” in which they exaggerated or lied about the efficacy of the company’s proprietary technology and the state of its finances, according to the complaint. The company also made false claims about its relationship with the Department of Defense and its regulatory status with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during that time period, the complaint, announced in 2018, said.

Some of the concern for the trial revolves around the witness list. CNBC noted that the prosecution team identified 170 people who live in 15 different states, several of which are seeing surges in COVID-19 cases. Sixteen of the witnesses are over the age of 65, including some high-profile individuals. The prosecution list includes two members of the company’s defunct board of directors, former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Rupert Murdoch, who was an investor in Theranos, was also included on the list.

In its report, CNBC noted that Davila was hesitant to extend the trial date too far out. Too many delays obscure an eventual finishing point, he said.

In February Davila dropped some of the fraud charges against Holmes and Balwani. In May, prosecutors added additional charges against the duo, but those were dropped this month, CNBC reported.

https://www.biospace.com/article/elizabeth-holmes-trial-could-be-delayed-until-2021-due-to-surge-of-covid-19-cases/

White House says not blocking money for U.S. coronavirus testing

The White House is not blocking funding for more coronavirus testing requested by President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Tuesday.

“No one is blocking any money from testing. One of the things I would add is that this is an ongoing negotiation. We’re just in the early days of that. Currently in the federal coffers we have $10 billion…unspent that is allocated for testing,” McEnany said at a press briefing.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-testing/white-house-says-not-blocking-money-for-u-s-coronavirus-testing-idUSKCN24M2D1

China requires negative COVID-19 tests for arriving air passengers

Passengers of China-bound flights must provide negative COVID-19 test results before boarding, China’s aviation authority said on Tuesday, as the government looks to further reduce the risk of imported coronavirus cases amid increased international travel.

Nucleic acid tests must be completed within five days of embarkation, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on its website. Tests should be conducted at facilities designated or recognised by Chinese embassies in host countries, it said.

The embassies will carefully assess the testing capacity of host countries and formulate travel procedures when testing conditions are met, CAAC said.

The announcement comes as countries struggle with testing capacity and speed. In parts of the United States, receipt of test results can take up to two weeks, while in some other countries, nucleic acid tests are reserved for people who have come in close contact with COVID-19 patients or who have symptoms of the potentially fatal disease.

In the past month, CAAC has allowed more foreign airlines to resume services in China and add flights to the country as the economy recovers. Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHAG.DE) on Friday said it would double the number of flights to and from mainland China in coming weeks, and Air France KLM SA (AIRF.PA) said it has received approval to add more China flights.

A number of airlines have been suspended from operating China routes after more than five passengers tested positive for the coronavirus upon arrival.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-airlines/china-requires-negative-covid-19-tests-for-arriving-air-passengers-idUSKCN24M0JN

Bayer launches carbon capture program for U.S. and Brazil farmers

Bayer AG launched a pilot program in the United States and Brazil on Tuesday that will pay farmers for capturing carbon in cropland soils, making it the latest agriculture company to capitalize on environmental initiatives.

The company seeks to enroll about 1,200 row crop farmers in its Bayer Carbon Initiative in the first season, scale up in upcoming seasons, and ultimately expand to other countries, company executives said.

In Brazil, Bayer expects to invest 5 million euros ($5.76 million) via the program over three years, the company said in a separate statement in Portuguese. Executives declined to disclose the overall program cost in both countries.

The program is the latest in a string of recent environmentally focused initiatives by agriculture companies, which have been criticized for using harmful chemicals and not doing enough to stop deforestation in Brazil.

Global commodities trader Cargill Inc kicked off a project this spring targeting greenhouse gas emissions and fertilizer runoff in Iowa, while agricultural cooperative Land O’Lakes Inc last week announced a multi-year partnership with Microsoft Corp to tackle sustainability and technology goals in the food system.

The announcements came after the U.S. Treasury Department in May clarified a federal tax credit designed to spur investment in carbon capture and sequestration projects.

Bayer’s program requires that farmers enroll in its Climate FieldView digital farming platform, where growers would log data about their eco-friendly farming practices such as no-till farming or planting cover crops. Those claims could then be verified by satellite imagery.

Bayer would compensate growers for sequestering carbon and pay them in cash or credits to buy products on its Bayer PLUS rewards platform.

“If farmers are sequestering carbon to the benefit of society and the planet, they should to be rewarded for it,” Brett Begemann, chief operating officer of Bayer’s Crop Science division, told Reuters.

In Brazil, the company selected roughly 500 farmers in 14 states to participate, starting in the 2020/2021 crop season with about 60,000 hectares of mainly soy and corn farms.

Begemann said the value of the carbon sequestered would be dictated by the market.

“At the end of the day, we have to have a clear line of sight that this has to contribute to Bayer’s bottom line and benefit our share owners as well.”

https://www.marketscreener.com/BAYER-AG-436063/news/Bayer-launches-carbon-capture-program-for-U-S-and-Brazil-farmers-30965080/?countview=0

Real Estate CEO Captaining New Coronavirus Data Collection From CDC

A tech firm headed by a real estate investor and developer has landed a $10.2M government contract to collect coronavirus data.

Pittsburgh-based TeleTracking Technologies, which builds healthcare software platforms, is taking over the collection of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CEO Michael Zamagias is also the founder, chairman and CEO of Zamagias Properties, a real estate investment and development company.

The Trump administration announced last week in a document posted to the Department of Health and Human Services website that coronavirus patient information would go to a centralized database in Washington, D.C. Daily reports from participating hospitals will be sent to the TeleTracking-managed system, detailing how many coronavirus patients are being treated and the number of available beds and ventilators, among other data.

The decision has unnerved politicians and health experts because of the potential for the data to be kept from the public, The New York Times reported. Sen. Patty Murray, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, called the TeleTracking agreement a “noncompetitive, multimillion-dollar contract” for a “duplicative health data system.”

Officials backing the move disputed that last week.

“Data is the fuel of any public health response,” CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield said during a briefing Wednesday. “No one is taking data or access away from CDC.”

President Donald Trump has recently claimed that the elevated number of positive coronavirus cases in the U.S. is the result of increased testing. The Trump administration is now working to block billions of dollars that would go toward state-level testing, contact tracing and the CDC, The Washington Post reported Saturday. The funds would come as part of a coronavirus relief bill that is expected to be debated before Congress recesses in August.

While the previous platform collected data from fewer than half of the nation’s 6,200 hospitals, the new data collection platform, known as HHS Protect, will eventually allow health officials to see how the virus is affecting individual communities, CDC Chief Information Officer Jose Arrieta said.

Before being granted the contract to assume tracking responsibilities from the CDC, TeleTracking “released a new enterprise COVID-19 capacity and census dashboard to equip health systems with the critical information needed to prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 patient surge,” according to its website. The dashboard reportedly provides hospital systems the real-time capacity to segment for bed availability and patients confirmed or suspected to have contracted COVID-19.

https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/healthcare/real-estate-ceo-leads-company-taking-over-coronavirus-data-collection-from-cdc-105279

Healthcare Services Group Q2 earnings up 27%

Healthcare Services Group (NASDAQ:HCSG) Q2 results:

Revenues: $452.1M (-2.2%).

Housekeeping/laundry: $227.6M; Dining & nutrition: $224.4M.

$17.2M in COVID-19 supplemental billings.

Net income: $23.1M (+26.9%); EPS: $0.31 (+29.2%).

Cash flow ops: $79.7M.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3593348-healthcare-services-group-q2-earnings-up-27

ALX Oncology closes $186M IPO

ALX Oncology (NASDAQ:ALXO) has closed its IPO of ~9.8M common shares at $19 per share, including the full exercise of underwriters’ over-allotment.

Gross proceeds were $185.7M.

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3593366-alx-oncology-closes-186m-ipo