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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
As the polls pretty much predicted, Tuesday’s midterms turned out to be very close in terms of the balance of power between the two parties. As of this writing it’s still not clear which party controls the House and Senate. But in several states, there were important healthcare issues on the ballot that were settled more decisively. In South Dakota, voters approved an expansion of Medicaid benefits, adding itself to the list of many other states that have bypassed legislatures to expand the program by ballot initiative. Voters in Michigan, California and Vermont approved Constitutional amendments protecting abortion rights while voters in Kentucky rejected an amendment that would have stated abortion rights are not protected in the state. Meanwhile, in Arizona many of the headline races are still too close to call as of this writing, but one vote that isn’t is an overwhelming “Yes” for Proposition 209, which expands property and assets that can’t be collected against medical debt and also reduces the interest rate that can be charged on it.
Walgreens-Backed VillageMD And Cigna’s Evernorth To Buy Clinic Operator Summit Health For Nearly $9 Billion
Walgreens and VillageMD
VillageMD is buying Summit Health for $8.9 billion to expand doctor-staffed clinics across the country. The transaction announced Monday will include investments from Walgreens Boots Alliance, which already owns more than 60% of VillageMD, and Cigna’s health services business Evernorth. Primary care provider Summit Health merged with CityMD in 2019 to create a company with more than 1,400 healthcare providers that offer primary, specialty and urgent care.
Read more here.
Deals Of The Week
AI Drug Discovery: Sanofi has entered into a research collaboration deal potentially worth up to $1.2 billion (not counting royalties) with drug discovery company Insilico Medicine to investigate candidates for up to six new targets.
Better Blood Storage: Hemanext, which is developing new methods of blood processing and storage, announced it raised a $18 million series B round as it progresses towards its commercialization in Europe.
Rural Health Collaboration: Andreessen Horowitz’s Bio+Health fund announced a strategic partnership with Bassett Healthcare Network to utilize tech from the fund’s portfolio companies to improve rural healthcare in central New York State.
Psychoactive Therapeutics: Sensorium Therapeutics announced it has closed a $30 million series A geared towards advancing its drug discovery engine and initial drug candidate SENS-1 for the treatment of anxiety.
Noteworthy
The low protein content of highly processed foods like soda, chips and fast food could be key to understanding why they are fueling rising rates of obesity in the Western world, according to new research.
Following guided mindfulness-based stress reduction programs like meditation can be as effective as using antidepressants in combating anxiety disorders, according to results from a clinical trial.
A small study suggests that Mario Kart is the most stressful video game based on how much it increased players’ heart rates.
Teva Pharmaceuticals will shell out as much as $523 million in New York to settle claims that the company contributed to the opioid crisis, part of a $4.2 billion national settlement for the company.
Coronavirus Updates
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their bivalent booster, which was authorized by the FDA in September, is more effective at fighting against the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron variants than its original shot. According to their data, people who took the updated shot had immune responses that were greater than those of the previous booster. The new booster also had higher levels of neutralizing antibodies when tested a month after the dose was administered. These antibodies prevent the virus from replicating and were four times higher in adults over 55 who were up to date on their boosters.
Despite how effective the vaccine is, few people are lining up to get the shot, even as Covid hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise across the country. Less than 10% of Americans have received the updated booster. Public officials are still urging the public to get boosters ahead of the expected winter surge. Because BA.5 is the most prominent form of the virus in the U.S., experts believe that protection against this subvariant is extremely important.
A New Report Suggests Covid May Have Started As A Leak From A Lab–But Its Underlying Evidence Has Serious Problems
Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
A new report claims that Covid-19 originated through an accident at a Chinese research lab. The basis of the report, though, has some problems.
Read more here.
Other Coronavirus News
Pfizer and BioNTech are now testing a new vaccine that combines a flu protection and omicron-specific Covid protection in a single injection. The aim is to use it for annual boosters.
The CDC announced that alcohol-related deaths increased by 26% between 2019 and 2020 as a result of the pandemic, with men aged 55 to 64 being the most affected.
A new study found that regular exercise increases the effectiveness of Covid vaccines, with a 91.5% spike in efficacy among vaccinated participants that participated in high levels of physical activity.
Across Forbes
Mastodon Isn’t A Replacement For Twitter–But It Has Rewards Of Its Own
MIT Will Return To The Moon For The First Time Since Apollo, Thanks To This Space Startup
Peloton Ex-CEO John Foley Is Back—With A Custom Rug Startup And $25 Million
What Else We are Reading
Electrical stimulation helps paralysed people walk again — and now we know why (Nature)
In ‘Raising Lazarus,’ Beth Macy summons the stone rollers (Religion News)
