Most dieters are trying to lose weight ‘in secret’ – over fear of being judged

 A new study found that 57% of dieters have not told anyone about their weight loss attempts, and 35% said they keep their endeavors hushed so no one would know if they failed.

Commissioned by Slimming World, a UK based community for diet news and advice, the survey meanwhile showed that nearly one-third are simply too embarrassed to admit their weight concerns, or own up to having a weight problem.

Out of 2,000 adults, the average participant polled have attempted to lose weight an average of four times in the past three years.

“Worries about our weight and the decision to start a weight loss journey can feel deeply personal, so it’s natural to think that going it alone might be best,” Dr. Jacquie Lavin, special advisor at Slimming World, told South West News Service.

However, Lavin claimed that it can actually be “easier” and “more enjoyable” to share your weight loss goals with others, even with a group can help: 37% of people in the study said that they valued the camaraderie of losing weight with a few buddies, and the mutual motivation that helps them stay on track.

38% of dieters go at it alone because they find it empowering.

independent.co.uk

Unfortunately, 12% of solo dieters have given up on a weight loss plan due to loneliness.

independent.co.uk
“These findings show that anyone who’s concerned about their weight should embrace the encouragement and support of losing weight with others, even if that means stepping out of their comfort zones,” said Lavin.

Of those who have chosen to lose weight alone, 38% did so to feel more in control, according to the research.

There’s also a difference between men and women when it comes to their willingness to be open about what they’re putting in their bodies. Even while attempting to slim down, men (44%) are more likely than women (34%) to eat or drink unhealthily in front of others, such as accepting birthday cake, just to keep up appearances.

Dr. Lavin encourages those dieting in secret to hop on the weight-watching bandwagon, since 12% of solo dieters have given up on a weight loss plan due to feeling lonely.

“Losing weight isn’t always easy and going it alone is especially hard,” she said. “We know it’s the shared motivation, plus feeling valued, cared for and understood, which act as a powerful and positive incentive to lose weight, and to keep going if you’re struggling.”

The doctor also claimed that not being shy about your weight wants can be “powerful.”

“As the survey showed, that shared motivation can be powerful,” Lavin said. “Our members say seeing the success of other people trying to lose weight is a key benefit of trying to lose weight as part of a group.”

https://nypost.com/2023/01/06/most-dieters-are-trying-to-lose-weight-in-secret-over-fear-of-being-judged/

AstraZeneca's COVID drug Evusheld unlikely to neutralize newest variant, FDA says

 The Food and Drug Administration late Friday said that AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 drug Evusheld may not provide protection against developing the illness in people exposed to XBB.1.5, one of the newest COVID subvariants. That's because XBB.1.5 is similar to other subvariants not neutralized by Evusheld, the FDA said. "However, we are awaiting additional data to verify that Evusheld is not active against XBB.1.5. We will provide further updates as new information becomes available," the agency said. "Health-care providers should inform individuals of the increased risk, compared to other variants, for COVID-19 due to SARS-CoV-2 variants not neutralized by Evusheld." The FDA said it is "closely monitoring" the emergence of XBB.1.5, which is currently estimated to account for 28% of circulating variants in the U.S., it said. U.S.-listed shares of AstraZeneca edged higher in the extended session Friday after ending the regular trading day up 1.4%.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20230106853/astrazenecas-covid-drug-evusheld-unlikely-to-neutralize-newest-variant-fda-says

AbbVie updated EPS guidance below views

 AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Rating) updated its fourth quarter 2022 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $3.51-$3.55 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.67. The company issued revenue guidance of -. AbbVie also updated its FY 2022 guidance to $13.70-$13.74 EPS.

https://www.marketbeat.com/instant-alerts/nyse-abbv-earnings-guidance-2023-01/

Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca and Lilly will top pharma's revenue growth in 2023: report

 Entrenched pharma giants Pfizer, Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson may continue to hold the top spots as the biggest drugmakers by sales in 2023. But the list of companies on track to deliver the most growth is expected to look quite different.

Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly will lead their biopharma peers with the biggest year-over-year revenue increases in 2023, Evaluate Vantage projects in its annual world preview report. The three companies look to add a bit less than $3.5 billion, around $2.5 billion and just short of $2 billion, respectively, in additional sales this year, Evaluate’s analysis shows.

Meanwhile, thanks to patent cliffs and declining demand for some top sellers, Merck and Sanofi are notably missing from Evaluate’s fastest-growing companies projection despite major contributions from their star meds Keytruda and Dupixent, respectively.

For Novo and Lilly, diabetes and obesity drugs are expected to fuel growth. High demand has outstripped supplies of Novo’s GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy as well as Lilly’s rival drugs Trulicity and Mounjaro. For 2023, Novo’s Ozempic, Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo’s Wegovy are expected to rank No. 3, No. 4 and No.7 in terms of delivering the biggest annual revenue increases for individual products, Evaluate projects.

Ozempic could add $2 billion in new sales, and new Mounjaro sales could come in slightly lower than that. For its part, Wegovy could see an additional $1.5 billion in new sales this year, according to Evaluate’s report.

Above those medicines in the individual drug growth rankings are Merck’s immuno-oncology star Keytruda and Sanofi and Regeneron’s inflammatory disease megablockbuster Dupixent.

Keytruda is expected to become the world’s bestselling drug in 2023 by adding nearly $3 billion sales to reach an annual total of about $24 billion, according to Evaluate. A bit over $2 billion will come for Dupixent as the IL-4/13 inhibitor is estimated to surpass $10 billion sales in 2023.

But neither top-performing drug could secure its developer a place in the fastest-growing companies rankings. In fact, Evaluate actually expects Merck’s total prescription drug sales to decline in 2023.

At both companies, aging diabetes drugs are hurting 2023 expectations. For Merck, the U.S. loss of exclusivity will tear a $1.5 billion hole in DPP-4 inhibitor Januvia’s annual sales in 2023, according to a projection provided by Evaluate Pharma’s Jacob Plieth. Sales for its sister combo med Janumet will also decrease by over $600 million by Evaluate’s estimates.

But the DPP-4 franchise won’t be Merck’s biggest problem. Amid tough competition from Pfizer’s Paxlovid, Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral Lagevrio (molnupiravir) will see sales plummet nearly $4.2 billion to just $1 billion in 2023, according to Evaluate. In contrast, Evaluate projected Paxlovid could stand as the world’s fourth top-selling drug in 2023 with about $13 billion sales.

As for Sanofi, the company’s popular insulin product Lantus will continue to suffer from interchangeable biosimilars. To make things worse, multiple sclerosis therapy Aubagio, currently Sanofi’s No. 4 brand behind Dupixent, influenza vaccines and Lantus, will lose U.S. patent protection in 2023.

Back to the fastest-growing companies rankings, Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen and CSL ranked fourth to seventh, while Novartis, Grifols and Daiichi Sankyo rounded out the list.

Within BMS’ offerings, both PD-1 inhibitor Opdivo and Pfizer-shared anticoagulant Eliquis will add $1 billion-plus sales in 2023, Evaluate said.

AstraZeneca and Daiichi are each benefiting from cancer drugs, including their shared HER2 antibody-drug conjugate Enhertu. And AZ will enjoy an extra boost from Alexion’s rare disease portfolio.

CSL and Grifols made the list thanks to growing demand for immunoglobulin products, and CSL also has its newly acquired Vifor Pharma to thank.

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/novo-nordisk-astrazeneca-lilly-will-top-pharmas-revenue-growth-2023

‘Groundbreaking’ autism test detects disorder in a single strand of hair

 Lock it in.

Scientists are buzzing about new tech that could help diagnose autism in children earlier than ever before.

New York-based LinusBio has created a test that analyzes a single strand of hair for levels of lead and aluminum — all of which are higher in autistic children.

Researchers put the tech to the test in a recent study, using hair samples collected from 486 children in Japan, Sweden and the US. It was shown to accurately predict the disorder 81% of the time. 

“We can detect the clear rhythm of autism with just about 1 centimeter of hair,” LinusBio co-founder Manish Arora excitedly told NBC in a recent interview.

Currently, an autistic child is diagnosed around the age of 4. The company is hopeful that it could identify autism earlier — before children begin to miss developmental milestones.

In the US, 1 in 44 children who are 8 years old are estimated to have autism, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the typical age to detect autism is around 4 years old, using this technology as a tool could expedite the diagnosis process.

Getty Images/iStockphoto
Even the Food and Drug Administration has labeled the study as a “breakthrough” — a designation intended to expedite a trial and approval process of a medical device or test.

“The technology is incredibly novel. The use of hair and the type of measurements they’re doing with hair is innovative,” Dr. Andrea Baccarelli, a Columbia University professor of environmental health sciences who was not involved in the research, told NBC. “It’s groundbreaking.” 

The study analyzing the tech company’s test was published last month in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

While the LinusBio test is not meant to be relied on by itself, it can act as a tool for clinicians to see what the child has been exposed to, including metals and other substances that stick around in human hair.

LinusBio’s research focused on the environmental factors that could contribute to the development of autism. More specifically, they realized they could find out which substances and toxins children -— even as young as infants — were exposed to over time.

In previous studies, substances such as lead, arsenic, copper, selenium, iron and magnesium have been linked to the disorder. While scientists are still scratching their heads as to why this is the case, it’s suspected that both environmental exposure and genetics play a role.

While the technology is in its early stages, it has already been hailed as a breakthrough discovery.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Because of their test’s initial success, the developers are now expanding the study to 2,000 participants. However, researchers not involved in the study say parents should be cautiously optimistic.

“There is certainly much more work to be done before concluding that this test is a valid measure of autism spectrum disorder risk,” Dr. Scott Myers, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician at the Geisinger Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute, told NBC.

https://nypost.com/2023/01/06/groundbreaking-autism-test-detects-disorder-in-single-strand-of-hair/

CES conference debuts high-tech gadgets focusing on personal health

 A high-tech pillow that can prevent snoring and a navigation device that can aid visually impaired were among the many head-turning gadgets and gizmos unveiled at the largest tech show in the world.

CES officially kicked off its four-day geekfest in Las Vegas on Thursday with a myriad of new devices — from those targeting personal health and wellness to consumer electronics, electric vehicles and the metaverse.

One product that had many sleep-deprived spouses in the crowd of 100,000 at the Venetian Convention and Expo Center especially excited was the Motion Pillow, which can recognize when a person snores and then inflates an airbag inside the pillow to turn their head or spine.

The Motion Pillow, a gadget that stops a user from snoring by gently inflating.

CSE/Consumer Technology Associat

“Once it hears you begin to snore, it finds where your head is on the pillow and it begins to move you gently,” said Brent Chappell of Motion Pillow. “Your airway re-opens. You stop snoring, the pillow deactivates and you keep on sleeping.”

The pillow was among a select few devices at CES to nab an Innovation nomination and is expected to be on sale this year.

Another creative product was introduced by Japanese company Ashirase, which invented a “walking navigation” system for visually impaired people. The device, which received an Innovation Award, is worn on the shoe and sends a vibration to your foot via a smartphone app that tells users which direction to travel.

“We hope that visually impaired people will be able to ‘walk freely on their own’ and open up a future in their own way,” the company said.

Ashirase’s “walking navigation” gadget for visually impaired people.

CSE/Consumer Technology Associat

Those who like to coast on wheels but don’t want to break a sweat can splurge on electric in-line skates from French firm Atmos for $533. Skaters wear a battery pack around their waist and use a small remote to keep the rollerblades moving.

On the electric car front, BMW unveiled its i Vision Dee technology for its EVs in 2025. The technology takes artificial intelligence to a new level, allowing the driver to customize the car’s exterior. The car also learns about the driver and makes proactive suggestions that appear on-screen inside the car. It also takes voice commands.

Meanwhile, Sony announced it will team with Honda on a new electric vehicle called Afeela that is expected to hit the road in the US in 2026. No word on the pricing yet. But the sedan-sized vehicle will be interactive, using safety and driver assistance systems from Honda along with entrainment and interactive features from Sony.

1of3

Atmos’ CES poster for its electric in-line skates.

AtmosGear

Atmos’ electric skates retail for $533.

AtmosGear

Advertisement

The metaverse was also another big theme, with many companies unveiling their latest gadgets for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

Start-up, OVR Technology presented a headset that allows users to smell in the metaverse, which could move beyond gaming and movie-watching into health, beauty and wellness, the company said.

The headset, dubbed ION 3, is a wearable device that delivers up to thousands of scents using cartridges. Its delivery system is synchronized with the content users are viewing in AR, VR, or via desktop or mobile.

A prototype of Afeela, an electric vehicle from Sony and Honda is unveiled during a press event at the 2023 CES event in Las Vegas on Jan. 4.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Afeela from Honda and Sony is an interactive vehicle that is set to be released in 2026.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

On the lifestyle side, pop star Paula Abdul launched Idol Eyes, a line of audio sunglasses.

Starting at $199, the sunglasses feature a five-hour battery life and play audio from the sunglass frames via Bluetooth connectivity. Users can listen to music or answer calls via the sunglasses, which are available in seven colors with polarized and blue-light filtered lenses.

“I’ve wanted to get into the tech world for the longest time,” the “Straight Up” singer told The Associated Press Thursday, “but I wanted to do it in a way that was authentic to who I am.”

Singer Paula Abdul debuted Idol Eyes, a line of audio sunglasses at CES 2023.

IdolEyes/Paula Abdul

“I’m just marrying fashion, movement and technology,” the former “American Idol” host added. “That’s where my heart is.”.

https://nypost.com/2023/01/05/ces-conference-debuts-high-tech-gadgets-focusing-on-wellness/

bluebird bio Sells Second Priority Review Voucher for $95 M

 Non-dilutive capital further strengthens Company’s financial position –

 

 bluebird bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLUE) (“bluebird bio” or the “Company”) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its second Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher (PRV) for $95 million.

bluebird bio was granted two PRVs upon the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of ZYNTEGLO® (betibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of beta-thalassemia in adult and pediatric patients requiring regular red blood cell transfusions and SKYSONA® (elivaldogene autotemcel) for the treatment of early, active cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, on August 17, 2022 and September 16, 2022 respectively. On December 29, 2022, bluebird closed the sale of its first PRV for $102 million.

“The sale of our second priority review voucher further bolsters our financial position and provides an important source of non-dilutive funding for the company,” said Chris Krawtschuk, chief financial officer, bluebird bio. “Strengthening the company’s balance sheet – as we have continued to do through demonstrated fiscal discipline and the sale of both PRVs – ensures we enter 2023 with significant momentum behind the commercial launches of our two FDA-approved gene therapies, and the opportunity ahead in sickle cell disease.”

bluebird received a payment of $95 million upon closing of the transaction, which occurred simultaneously with the parties entering into the agreement. Jefferies LLC acted as the exclusive financial advisor to bluebird for this transaction.

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/bluebird-bio-sells-second-priority-review-voucher-for-95-million/