Oral arguments in two cases challenging the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for private businesses began at the Supreme Court Friday. The mandate requires employees of private companies to be vaccinated or be tested for COVID-19 weekly. (CNBC Weekly)
Record demand for COVID-19 testing has left laboratories depleted and facing worker shortages. The U.S. is currently processing two million tests per day, a pandemic high. (Politico)
Sanofi will pay $100 million up front for 15 small molecule drugs from Exscientia. The partnership, which will focus on oncology and immunology, is part of the industry’s greater push towards AI-oriented licensing deals. (Endpoints News)
Hospitals across the U.S. are turning to international nurses to alleviate employee shortages. Requests for nurses from other countries, including the Philippines, Kenya and Thailand, have swelled since the pandemic started. (Kaiser Health News)
Georgia will join the $26 billion settlement of lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson and three other drug distributors for their roles in the opioid crisis. In July, McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen agreed to pay $21 billion, while J&J agreed to pay $5 billion. (Reuters)
