New study to test Moderna vax transmission prevention among college students

 College students in the United States, vaccinated with Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine, will be part of a new study to test its effectiveness in curbing the spread of the virus, the COVID-19 Prevention Network said on Friday.

The trial, backed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is designed to determine if the vaccine, mRNA-1273, can prevent coronavirus infection, limit virus in the nose, and reduce transmission from vaccinated individuals to their close contacts.

The Prevent COVID U study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), will monitor about 12,000 young adults across 20 universities over a five-month period.

Half of the students will be vaccinated at enrollment, while the other half will receive the vaccine four months late, according to the network, formed by NIAID to conduct studies of vaccines and antibodies for the new coronavirus.

The students, as well as 25,000 individuals named by them as ‘close contacts’ will fill out questionnaires, take nasal swab samples and provide blood samples for a designated period, allowing study investigators to measure the spread of the virus.

“Our hope is that we demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccines prevent people from getting infected with coronavirus in the first place and that it stops transmission to others,” said Dr. Larry Corey, principal investigator of the network’s operations program.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-moderna/new-study-to-test-moderna-vaccine-in-transmission-prevention-among-college-students-idUSKBN2BI25R

Forte Biosciences started at Buy by Citi

 Target $75

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DaVita cut to Underperform from Neutral by B of A

 Target to $118 from $127

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Former CDC Director Says COVID-19 Escaped From Wuhan Lab

 Former CDC Director Robert Redfield says that SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, did not originate from a wet market in Wuhan, China, and instead escaped from a nearby lab which was performing gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses to make them more easily infect humans.

"I do not believe this somehow came from a bat to a human," Redfield told CNN's Sanjay Gupta in an interview set to air Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET. "Normally, when a pathogen goes from a zoonot to human, it takes a while for it to figure out how to become more & more efficient in human to human transmission."

"It's only an opinion; I'm allowed to have opinions now," he added.

Redfield, a virologist picked by former President Trump to lead the Centers for Disease Control, said he believes that the pandemic began as a localized outbreak in Wuhan in September or October of 2019, earlier than the official timeline, and that it spread to every province in China over the ensuing months.

And while the rest of the world was told the only initial Covid-19 cases in China had originated from a wet market in Wuhan, Redfield is confident the evidence suggests that was simply not the case. According to Redfield, even his counterpart at the China CDC, Dr. George Gao, was initially left in the dark about the magnitude of the problem until early January. He described a private phone call he had with Gao in early January 2020, when Gao became distraught and started crying after finding "a lot of cases'' among individuals who had not been to the wet market. Gao, Redfield says, "came to the conclusion that the cat was out of the bag."

 

The initial mortality rates in China were somewhere between "5-10%," Redfield told me. "I'd probably be cryin' too," he added.

...

The United States wasn't formally notified of the "mysterious cluster of pneumonia patients" until December 31, 2019. Those were critical weeks and months that countries around the world could've been preparing. -Dr. Sanjay Gupta via CNN

Redfield says that the notion COVID-19 jumped from a bat to a human doesn't make "biological sense," noting to Gupta that he spent his career as a virologist. His opinion differs from that of the World Health Organization, which has called the lab escape theory "extremely unlikely" with no clear evidence.

And of course, CCP-friendly pundits are towing Beijing's official line by attacking Redfield:

Which should be enough evidence. 

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/former-cdc-director-says-covid-19-escaped-wuhan-lab

New Storage Option OKd for Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine, Easing Distribution, Storage Across EU

 BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) announced today that the European Medicines

Agency (EMA) approved storage of COMIRNATY(R) at -25degC to -15degC for 
a total of two weeks based on data showing the stability at these 
temperatures in standard pharmaceutical freezers. The new data is a 
testament to the companies' ongoing commitment to developing this 
vaccine further and collecting data in order to support broader and more 
flexible vaccine distribution and inoculation. 
 
   With this approval, the COMIRNATY vials can be stored in all 27 European 
Union (EU) member states at these updated temperatures for a total of 
two weeks alternatively to the storage at ultra-low temperatures. It 
marks an important milestone in the vaccine roll-out, as it could allow 
storage in pharmacies to support vaccinations at local 
practices/doctors' offices. By enabling more individuals to store and 
administer the vaccine, the approval will help broaden access, while 
limiting strain on larger vaccination centers. 
 
   "From the beginning our goal was to make our vaccine broadly available 
to people around the world. This approval by the EMA will enable us to 
access important additional channels to distribute and administer our 
vaccine," said Ugur Sahin, CEO and Co-founder of BioNTech. "It comes at 
an important point in time, as governments now have more flexibility to 
move from inoculations in vaccination centers to a more decentralized 
vaccine roll-out through local doctors and general practitioners to 
accelerate our path out of the pandemic." 
 
   "We appreciate the collaboration with the EMA and other regulatory 
agencies around the world as we work to ensure our vaccine can be 
shipped and stored under increasingly flexible conditions," said Albert 
Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer. "This new storage 
option in Europe will help make the vaccine even more accessible to 
people across the continent, another important step as we continue our 
global fight against this virus." 
 
   The vaccine, which is based on BioNTech's proprietary mRNA technology, 
was developed by both BioNTech and Pfizer. BioNTech is the Marketing 
Authorization Holder in the European Union, and the holder of emergency 
use authorizations or equivalent in the United States, United Kingdom, 
Canada and other countries in advance of a planned application for full 
marketing authorizations in these countries. 

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/BIONTECH-SE-66771992/news/Press-Release-nbsp-EMA-Approves-New-Storage-Option-for-Pfizer-BioNTech-Vaccine-Easing-Distributio-32796801/

Alignment Healthcare launches IPO

 Alignment Healthcare, a provider of privatized Medicare benefits for seniors, has launched its initial public offering.

Alignment, which operates in California, North Carolina and Nevada with 81,500 health plan enrollees in more than 20 markets in these states, is the latest health insurer to launch an IPO this year. Oscar Health, which sells individual coverage under the Affordable Care Act and has been expanding its own Medicare Advantage business, went public earlier this year.

In Alignment’s case, the company earlier disclosed hopes of raising nearly $500 million, which would help raise capital for future expansion. Alignment Thursday night announced pricing of its IPO of 27.2 million shares of its common stock at $18 per share, “including 5,500,000 shares of common stock to be sold by certain existing stockholders.” 

Alignment on Friday will begin trading under the ticker symbol “ALHC” on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Health insurers need money for the latest in health information systems as well as capital to build out their medical care provider networks of doctors and hospitals.

“The Company intends to use the proceeds of the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes, including continued investments in the growth of its business, and strengthening its balance sheet by potentially repaying debt,” Alignment said in a statement Thursday night. 

Medicare Advantage plans provide extra benefits and services to seniors, such as disease management and nurse help hotlines, as well as some plans providing vision and dental care. 

But the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has changed the rules in the last three years for Medicare Advantage plans to allow them to cover more supplemental health benefits in part to better coordinate care and make sure seniors get lower cost benefits upfront before getting sick, which could cost taxpayers more in the long run.

Alignment generated nearly $1 billion in revenue last year and lost $22.9 million, according to financial statements disclosed in a filing earlier this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The program has been bipartisan with Medicare Advantage plans flourishing under Presidents Obama and Trump with the new Joe Biden White House committed to expanding healthcare benefits to all Americans, including seniors.

The senior market will remain Alignment’s focus, the company said.

"From Day 1, Alignment has focused exclusively on serving seniors, a population that is rapidly growing and driving sustained, exponential growth in Medicare Advantage as a result,” Alignment founder and chief executive officer John Kao said. “Alignment's model is proven to bring high quality, low-cost care to our members, and going public enables us to accelerate our mission to put the senior first and serve more seniors nationwide. We're confident in our ability to create value for our shareholders while improving the lives of the seniors we serve."

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2021/03/26/medicare-advantage-plan-alignment-healthcare-launches-ipo/

Glaxo, Vir apply for U.S. emergency use of COVID-19 antibody therapy

 GSK and Vir Biotechnology have filed an application to U.S. regulators for emergency use authorization of their antibody therapy to treat early-stage COVID-19 infections, the drugmakers said on Friday.

Earlier this month, the companies found their experimental treatment, VIR-7831, reduced the risk of hospitalization and deaths among patients by 85%, based on interim data from a study.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-gsk-vir-usa/gsk-vir-apply-for-us-emergency-use-of-covid-19-antibody-therapy-idUSL4N2LO2YD