As part of President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, the federal government will invest $1.7 billion to fight COVID-19 variants. In a statement, the White House said it will monitor variants by boosting genomic sequencing efforts. (Reuters)
Johnson & Johnson privately asked Pfizer and Moderna to join in efforts to study blood clot risks in COVID-19 vaccines, but the two drugmakers declined. While rival pharma companies joined forces during the pandemic, the refusal by Pfizer and Moderna shows the limits of the industry’s solidarity. (The Wall Street Journal)
Relay Therapeutics paid $85 million in cash to acquire the machine learning company ZebiAI. Relay plans to bolster its early-stage discovery tools with ZebiAI’s DNA-encoded library screens. (Endpoints News)
Digital health startups are increasingly trying to bring glucose monitors to the masses, with the help of remote doctors and off-label prescriptions. Glucose monitors are typically prescribed to people with diabetes, though the new wave of startups aim to market them as preventive tools. (STAT)
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said it will be difficult to eradicate COVID-19 unless Americans change their outlooks on vaccination. “We eradicate things where we have very high vaccination rates,” Gottlieb explained. (CNBC Weekly)
