PainReform Advances in Vitro Studies for Non-Opiate Post-Surgical Pain Relief

 PainReform Ltd (NASDAQ:PRFX) announced results from new studies demonstrating the superior in-vitro release (IVR) rates of PRF-110 compared to topical post-surgical pain management products available in the market.

These findings underscore PainReform’s commitment to advancing non-opiate pain relief options and mark a significant milestone in developing long-lasting pain management solutions.

Leveraging the latest IVR technology, which automates the testing of drug release from formulations over time, PainReform conducted comprehensive studies to evaluate the performance of PRF-110.

Over a 72-hour industry-standard duration and extending to 96 hours, PRF-110 exhibited higher rates of analgesic drug release compared to a market-leading post-surgical pain product.

Results indicated that PRF-110 released between 34%-77% more drug over 96 hours under various testing conditions.

The results support PRF-110’s superior efficacy and its potential to extend the pain relief duration significantly.

By ensuring a more consistent and prolonged analgesic effect, PRF-110 aims to reduce the dependency on opiates for post-surgical pain management, the company said.

Last week, PainReform announced it reached the 50% enrollment target for the second part of the Phase 3 clinical trial of PRF-110 in bunionectomy. Over 200 patients have been enrolled.

In January, PainReform reported in vitro test results comparing the PRF-110 versus the industry leader as a topical analgesia for postoperative pain relief.

The in vitro tests were designed to mimic the spreadability attribute critically required for post-surgical topical applications.

PRF-110 demonstrated superior formulation properties concerning surface-tissue spreading and superior surface interaction with surgical tissue based on a slide test, which demonstrated sliding of the formulations down inclined, dry, and wet surfaces.

In phosphate-buffered saline, the sliding of PRF-110 was twice that of the competitor.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-painreforms-non-opiate-post-143054962.html

Vivos: Flagship CARE Oral Medical Devices Receive Full Approval for Medicare Reimbursement

  Vivos Therapeutics, Inc. ("Vivos" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: VVOS), a leading medical device and technology company specializing in the development and commercialization of highly effective proprietary treatments for sleep related breathing disorders (including all severities of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in adults), today announced receipt of all required regulatory approvals to enable Medicare reimbursement for its CARE oral medical devices. Effective immediately, this milestone achievement allows millions of Medicare beneficiaries coverage and reimbursement for allowable charges billable to Medicare.

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/VIVOS-THERAPEUTICS-INC-116418037/news/Vivos-Therapeutics-rsquo-Flagship-CARE-Oral-Medical-Devices-Receive-Full-Approval-for-Medicare-Re-46394554/

Dimon warns interest rates could rise to 8%

 The boss of one of the world's biggest banks has warned US interest rates could climb to 8%.

Jamie Dimon, the head of JPMorgan Chase, said his bank has prepared for interest rates to jump because of "persistent inflationary pressures".

Central banks around the world have been busy raising rates in a bid to dampen rising prices.

But with price rises in some countries now gradually slowing, central banks may begin to lower interest rates.

In his annual letter to shareholders, Mr Dimon said that the bank was ready for a "very broad range" of rates, from 2% to 8% or even higher, potentially pushed up because of high government spending and the need to curb price rises.

Mr Dimon's comments come as US interest rates rest in the range of 5.25% to 5.5% - higher than they have been for more than 20 years.

By making borrowing more expensive, higher interest rates encourage saving and reduce borrowing for home purchases and business investments, cooling the economy and easing the pressures pushing up prices.

The overwhelming expectation is that interest rates will fall in 2024, with markets pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve this year.

"All of the following factors appear to be inflationary: ongoing fiscal spending, remilitarization of the world, restructuring of global trade, capital needs of the new green economy, and possibly higher energy costs," Mr Dimon wrote.

The US Federal Reserve will make its next decision on which way interest rates will move at the end of the month.

The expectation is that it will hold rates at the current level with the first cut potentially coming in June. The European Central Bank is also expected to make its first cut in June.

On Tuesday, some analysts questioned, however, whether rate cuts lie in store for the summer in the US.

The latest US inflation figures, are due to be published on Wednesday, with the CPI measure of inflation expected to rise to 3.4% year-on-year, up from 3.2% in February and perhaps making it harder to justify rate cuts.

n a speech delivered at Stanford University at the beginning of April, the Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell said: "If the economy evolves broadly as we expect, most Federal Open Market Committee participants see it as likely to be appropriate to begin lowering the policy rate at some point this year."

Mr Dimon has been chief executive of JPMorgan Chase since the end of 2005. One year later he also became chairman and president of the bank. He is the longest-serving chief executive of a major investment bank.

In his letter to shareholders, he also said that he sees the United States as being at a "pivotal moment" in the midst of global uncertainty.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68769561

White House again weaponizes PPP loans in defense of student-debt relief

 The White House on Monday turned to a familiar tactic when defending criticism of its student-loan relief plan.

The White House's social media account tweeted Rep. Andrew Clyde's criticism of the latest move to provide student loan relief for 25 million people with the point that the Georgia Republican himself got $156,697 of debt extinguished from the Payment Protection Program.

It's not the first time the White House has gone down that route, having previously noted the PPP relief of other lawmakers including Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republicans who criticized student-loan forgiveness.

PPP was a COVID-era program with the intent of loaning money to small businesses to keep employees from being laid off. One study, by authors including famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor David Autor, found it did preserve what it called 3 million "job years" of employment, at a cost of up to $257,000 per job. Most of the benefits went to business owners rather than workers, the study found.

PPP was designed so that the loans were easily forgiven. One examination from 2022 found $742 billion out of the $793 billion approved for 11.5 million loans was extinguished.

Biden's new program will rely on what's called the Higher Education Act to provide some loan relief to student borrowers. It's a combination of interest relief - $20,000 for borrowers whose balances have grown beyond what they originally borrowed - and full loan forgiveness for others.

The White House aims to start getting the relief to students by the fall, if it survives likely court challenges.

https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2024040921/white-house-again-weaponizes-ppp-loans-in-defense-of-student-debt-relief

Patchwork of state AI laws is creating 'a mess' for US businesses

 The laws governing artificial intelligence are increasingly different depending on where you are in the US, a mounting source of confusion for businesses racing to capitalize on the rise of AI.

This year in Utah state lawmakers are debating legislation requiring certain businesses to disclose if their products interact with consumers without using a human.

In Connecticut, state legislators are considering a bill that would place stricter limitations on transparency about the inner workings of AI systems considered "high risk."

They are among the 30 states (plus the District of Columbia) that have either proposed or have adopted new laws placing constraints, either directly or indirectly, on how AI systems are designed and used.

The legislation targets everything from the protection of children and data transparency to reducing bias and protecting consumers from AI-generated decisions in healthcare, housing, and employment.

"It’s really just a mess for business," Goli Mahdavi, a lawyer with Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, said about the still-developing bills and newly enacted statutes. "It’s just a lot of uncertainty."

The reason for the patchwork of laws across the US is the lack of action from Washington to offer direct federal regulation of the fast-evolving technology, largely because not all US lawmakers agree new laws are needed to police AI.

Things are different in other parts of the world. The European Union passed a comprehensive AI law called the AI Act into law this year. And China has adopted more politically focused AI laws that target AI-generated news distribution, deep fakes, chatbots, and datasets.

Yet the state laws being debated or enacted in the US do reflect priorities set out by the federal government, Mahdavi said.

President Biden, for example, has directed AI developers and users to apply AI "responsibly" in an executive order issued last October. Then in January, the administration added a requirement for developers to disclose their safety test results to the government.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/a-patchwork-of-state-ai-laws-is-creating-a-mess-for-us-businesses-080009421.html

;US says it destroyed Houthi air defense, drone systems in Red Sea area;

 The U.S. military said on Monday it destroyed air defense and drone systems of Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi forces in the area of the Red Sea, with no injuries or damage reported to commercial, U.S. and coalition ships.

The U.S. Central Command said on X its forces had destroyed an air defense system with two missiles ready to launch, a ground control station in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and one unmanned aerial system launched by the Houthis from Yemen over the Red Sea.

Houthi forces in Yemen said on Sunday they had launched rockets and drones at British, U.S. and Israeli ships, the latest in a campaign of attacks on shipping in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war.

The U.S. Central Command said on Sunday, an anti-ship ballistic missile was launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden where also no injuries or damage were reported by U.S., coalition or commercial ships.

Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping through the Suez Canal, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

The Houthi militants, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, call their action a response to Israel's military operations in Gaza and a show of solidarity to Palestinians.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 33,000 people, according to the local health ministry and displaced nearly the entire population of 2.3 million.

The Israeli offensive began after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-military-says-destroyed-houthi-011250537.html

Hamas says Israeli proposal failed to meet Palestinian demands, yet it is under review

 Hamas said early on Tuesday Israel's proposal that it received from Qatari and Egyptian mediators did not meet any of the demands of Palestinian factions.

However, the group added in a statement it would study the proposal, which it described as “intransigent”, and deliver its response to the mediators.

A Hamas official told Reuters on Monday that the group has rejected the Israeli ceasefire proposal made at talks in Cairo, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a date was set for an invasion of Rafah, Gaza's last refuge for displaced Palestinians.

Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday for talks that included Qatari and Egyptian mediators as well as CIA Director William Burns.

Burn's presence underlined rising pressure from Israel's main ally the U.S. for a deal that would free Israeli hostages held in Gaza and get aid to Palestinian civilians left destitute by six months of conflict.

But senior Hamas official Ali Baraka told Reuters: "We reject the latest Israeli proposals that the Egyptian side informed us of. The politburo met today and decided this."

Another Hamas official had earlier told Reuters that no progress had been made in the negotiations.

"There is no change in the position of the occupation (Israel) and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks," the Hamas official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "There is no progress yet."

Israel said it was keen to reach a prisoners-for-hostages deal, by which it would free a number of Palestinians jailed in its prisons in return for the hostages in Gaza, but it wasn't ready to end the military offensive before it invaded Rafah.

Hamas wants any agreement to secure an end to Israeli military offensive, get Israeli forces out of Gaza and allow the displaced to return to their homes across the enclave.

Rafah is the last refuge for Palestinian civilians displaced by relentless Israeli bombardments that have flattened their home neighbourhoods. It is also the last significant redoubt of Hamas combat units, Israel says.

More than one million people are crammed into the southern city in desperate conditions, short of food, water and shelter, and foreign governments and organisations have urged Israel against storming Rafah for fears of a bloodbath.

"We are constantly working to achieve our goals, first and foremost the release of all our hostages and achieving a complete victory over Hamas," Netanyahu said.

"This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen - there is a date." He did not specify the date.

Of the 253 people Hamas seized on Oct. 7, 133 hostages remain captive. Negotiators have spoken of around 40 going free in the first stage of a prospective deal.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/hamas-says-israeli-proposal-failed-021520062.html