Kroger and Walmart hike the price of COVID-19 home tests

 Not only are home coronavirus test kits increasingly hard to find, they're also becoming more expensive. 

Retailers Kroger and Walmart are raising prices on scarce over-the-counter rapid COVID-19 tests after both companies fulfilled pledges to offer Abbott Laboratories' kits to consumers at cost for 100 days, forgoing any profits during the initial sales period.

In 2021, Kroger, Walmart and Amazon agreed to sell the tests at cost or at a discount of up to 35% for three months in an effort to expand testing options for Americans. Without the retailer markups, the kits sold through select retail outlets and containing two tests cost consumers $14.

But that deal, which had been trumpeted by the White House, is now over. A spokesperson for Kroger told CBS MoneyWatch that the supermarket chain had fulfilled its commitment to the Biden administration to make home COVID-19 tests available at cost. saying that the "pricing program has now phased out and retail pricing has been reinstated." 

Abbott's Binax Now at-home COVID-19 test kit, one of the most popular varieties, is now available in Kroger stores with pharmacies for $23.99. It is out of stock on Kroger's website amid surging demand for rapid, or antigen, self-test kits. Kroger sells Quidel's QuickVue test in the supermarket chain's nonpharmacy stores,, according to the company spokesperson. 

Walmart did not immediately reply to CBS MoneyWatch's request for comment. The retail giant's Binax Now test kits, which are also sold out online, are listed for sale on its website for $19.88. 

Other retailers had already been selling the kits at higher prices, never having struck deals with the White House. Despite those costs, many consumers are buying the kits amid record numbers of COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant. 

Pharmacy chain CVS Health, for example, has been selling the tests for $23.99 a box and is also sold out online. Customers have come up empty-handed in stores, as well. 

NowInstock.net, a service that tracks the availability of products, indicates that at-home rapid COVID-19 tests are nearly completely sold out online. In some cases, kits are available for pre-order.

One bright spot: Intrivo Diagnostics' On/Go rapid self-test kit, which works similarly to the BinaxNow product, is in stock at Walmart.com. It retails for $29.99 for a box of two kits. It's also available from a less obvious source — health care company Ro, which is better known for solving mens' health care needs like hair loss and erectile dysfunction. 

Ro co-founder and CEO Zachariah Reitano said the test kits were among the company's three most sought after products over the holidays. 

"Our patients kept asking for tests, and we partnered with the makers of the On/Go test to provide them," he told CBS MoneyWatch this week. "They have been investing tremendously in manufacturing capacity even as cases have ebbed and flowed in the potential case where there was a far more contagious variant that spread quickly."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kroger-walmart-hike-prices-on-covid-19-home-tests/

HCA Buys MD Now Urgent Care With 59 Locations in Florida

 HCA Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE: HCA), one of the nation’s leading healthcare providers, today announced it has purchased MD Now Urgent Care, a network of 59 urgent care centers in Florida.

The transaction significantly expands HCA Healthcare’s reach as one of the nation’s leading providers of urgent care, currently operating more than 170 clinics across 19 markets. MD Now is the largest urgent care provider in Florida.

"The addition of MD Now Urgent Care in Florida enhances our already strong capabilities in a rapidly growing state by providing convenient outpatient care options for our patients," said Sam Hazen, HCA Healthcare’s chief executive officer. "It also connects MD Now patients to a comprehensive statewide network of care, including acute care and specialty services should they be needed."

The acquisition of these MD Now centers, combined with the November announcement of HCA Healthcare’s plans to build three additional hospitals in the state, will enhance HCA Florida Healthcare’s ability to offer patient-centered, high-quality care to more Floridians and meet the growing need for healthcare services in the state. HCA Florida Healthcare currently serves 6.4 million patients each year at more than 400 affiliated sites of care across Florida.

HCA Florida Healthcare has a long history of investing in Florida, including a major capital investment initiative of approximately $3 billion spent over the last three years. This includes the $360 million HCA Florida University Hospital and existing facility renovations across the state to accommodate new, advanced equipment. As a tax-paying entity, HCA Florida Healthcare has also supported local communities with more than $957 million in state taxes over the past three years.

The transaction was completed at the end of 2021. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hca-healthcare-purchases-md-now-133000569.html

Inspire Medical cut to Neutral by B of A

 From Buy

https://finviz.com/quote.ashx?t=insp

CDC Recommends Pfizer Booster at 5 Months, Additional Primary Dose for Immunocompromised Children

 Today, CDC is updating our recommendation for when many people can receive a booster shot, shortening the interval from 6 months to 5 months for people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine.  This means that people can now receive an mRNA booster shot 5 months after completing their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series.  The booster interval recommendation for people who received the J&J vaccine (2 months) or the Moderna vaccine (6 months), has not changed.

Additionally, consistent with our prior recommendation for adults, CDC is recommending that moderately or severely immunocompromised 5–11-year-olds receive an additional primary dose of vaccine 28 days after their second shot. At this time, only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is authorized and recommended for children aged 5-11.

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/s0104-Pfizer-Booster.html

China's Latest COVID Outbreak Spreads To 2 New Cities Including Home Of World's Largest Port

 China is now dealing with three serious outbreaks as the eastern port city of Ningbo reported 16 cases over the weekend, while the city of Yuzhou, a smaller city with 1.3M residents, has seen some of its neighborhoods placed on lockdown.

Fortunately for China's economy, the Ningbo Zhoushan Port, the largest port in the world, said in a statement published on Weibo late Sunday that its operations are basically stable despite the strict COVID controls to try and contain the outbreak. Of the 16 cases, authorities said nine were imported and seven were local.

According to a statement posted by Yuzhou's city government to its Weibo account, a lockdown has been imposed upon the downtown district, even though the city reported just 3 cases on Monday. Public transit, taxis and school have all been suspended in the district.

Fortunately for the Chinese economy, the numbers in Ningbo are much smaller than the number of new cases still being reported in Xi'an, which is in the middle of a mass lockdown, leaving many in the city of 13M without easy access to essentials like food and medicine.

As the virus continues to spread, the Ningbo Containerized Freight Index has just reached an all-time record high of $4,264/FEU at a time when shipping costs around the world have surged.

The port city has already undergone 3 partial lockdowns in the past 6 months, according to China's state-controlled press. Meanwhile, some 200 pilots have been put into quarantine over the past week after two pilots tested positive for the virus.

It's fair to assume the world is curious about the conditions inside Xi'an, as critics of China pointed out on Twitter that there are no "citizen journalists" in Xi'an reporting on the latest lockdown. That's unlike the situation in Wuhan, which was covered by several citizen journalists. However, most of these people were disappeared or otherwise disciplined by Chinese authorities, setting a pretty clear example for anybody else who might want to try it.

Still, even China's state-controlled press has acknowledged that people in the city had been struggling to buy food. It's unclear whether this situation has eased.

Beijing must contain the situation in Ningbo: freezing the port would have broad-based ramifications for the entire Chinese economy, and the global economy more broadly.

As we noted the other day, traders have already started freaking out about the prospect of supply chain-crippling shutdowns in China, even as companies with large factories in Xi'an have insisted the lockdowns aren't having a big impact on production. But as a reminder, the last time China's megaports of Yantian or Ningbo were closed, supply chains collapsed, shipping rates went astronomical after a modest lag.

China finished off 2021 last week by reporting the most new cases since the end of the lockdown in Wuhan, and overall, the number of new cases has been nearing 200/day since the start of the New Year.

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/chinas-latest-covid-outbreak-spreads-ningbo-home-worlds-biggest-port

Sanofi: Q4 2021 Memorandum for modelling purpose

 Sanofi announced today that its Q4 2021 Memorandum for modelling purposes is available on the "Investors" page of the company's website:

https://www.sanofi.com/en/investors/financial-results-and-events/financial-results/Q4-results-2021

As for each quarter, Sanofi prepared this document to assist in the financial modelling of the Group's quarterly results. This document includes a reminder on various non-comparable items and exclusivity losses as well as the foreign currency impact and share count. Sanofi's fourth-quarter 2021 results will be published on February 4, 2022.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/availability-q4-2021-memorandum-modelling-063000947.html

Allena Pharma Updates on Gout Therapy, Corporate Developments

 

• ALLN-346, an orally administered enzyme in development for the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout, demonstrates a statistically significant reduction in serum uric acid and a well-tolerated safety profile in first cohort of patients with hyperuricemia and chronic kidney disease in the Phase 2a Study 201

• Allena to host webinar to discuss the initial Study 201 data with Key Opinion Leaders Robert Terkeltaub, M.D. and David S. Goldfarb, M.D. today at 8:00 am ET; log-in information below

• ALLN-346 Phase 2a Study 202 is actively enrolling patients with gout and stages 2 and 3 chronic kidney disease in parallel cohorts; data from both cohorts expected in Q1 2022

• Company currently evaluating potential modifications to the pivotal URIROX-2 Phase 3 trial of Reloxaliase in Enteric Hyperoxaluria in an effort to reduce the size and duration of the trial and plans to discuss such modifications with the FDA during Q1 2022

• Company retains Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated to assist in exploring strategic and financing alternatives

Webinar Today to Review ALLN-346 Study 201 Data with Key Opinion Leaders

Allena will be hosting a KOL webinar at 8:00 am ET today to review today’s ALLN-346 data announcement with Key Opinion Leaders, Robert Terkeltaub, M.D. of the University of California, San Diego and David S. Goldfarb, M.D. of NYU Langone Medical Center.

A listen-in only webcast of the conference call with corresponding slides can be accessed at this link and also via Allena’s website, within the Investors & News/Events & Presentations section. A replay of the webcast can also be accessed at this same link.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/allena-pharmaceuticals-provides-clinical-corporate-100000630.html