The U.S. government has begun shipping millions of free COVID-19 tests to Americans after launching a website last week. The effort comes as cases have begun to decline in some states, with average daily U.S. cases dropping 5% last week. (Reuters)
Pfizer and Moderna booster shots are effective at protecting against the Omicron variant, as well as preventing hospitalization, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows. The third shots are 90% protective against hospitalization. (The New York Times)
British fund manager and shareholder Terry Smith criticized Unilever’s failed offer for GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer-healthcare business, calling it a “near death experience.” “It seems to us that Unilever management’s response to its poor performance has been to utter meaningless platitudes to which it has now attempted to add major M&A activity,” Smith wrote in a letter. (Reuters)
Democrats have begun to piece together a new version of the Build Back Better plan after Sen. Joe Manchin said he wouldn’t vote for the original bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted the new version might be “more limited,” but would still aim to be “significant.” (The Wall Street Journal)
New research questions whether “synergistic” cancer drugs, or drugs used in combination, are as effective as previously believed. A new study examining 13 combination cancer therapies found that the benefits came from each drug separately, not the collective effect. (STAT)
