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aN intelligence report released last week, it has emerged that there was no “direct evidence” that the Covid-19 pandemic started with a lab leak at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. The report, prepared by the National Intelligence Officer for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Proliferation, found that scientists at the Wuhan lab conducted research with coronaviruses, “but no known viruses that could plausibly” identify the origin of the Covid-19 virus. pandemic.
The idea that Covid came from a lab leak is constantly contested by scientific experts, who believe it originated naturally from an animal in a food market. However, divisions remain between individual intelligence agencies. Most agencies, including the National Intelligence Council, believe the pandemic was “most likely caused by natural exposure to an infected animal,” but the FBI and Department of Energy still believe a lab leak was “the most likely” cause. The Department of Energy has said its lab leak theory is a “low confidence” conclusion, but it continues to be seized upon by politicians, including former President Donald Trump. The CIA is “unable to determine the exact origin,” according to the report. The one area on which all agencies agree is that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, “has not been developed as a biological weapon.”
Thanks to Forbes HBCU Scholar India Rice for her assistance with today’s newsletter.
Lilly’s obesity drug candidate shows promising results in trial
Lilly’s new candidate drug for obesity is called retatrutide.
Getty/Cristina Arias
An obesity drug candidate from Eli Lilly has shown promising results in a phase 2 trial. The drug, called retatrutide, helped patients lose an average of 24% of their body weight over the course of 48 weeks at the highest dosage, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. That’s the highest weight loss rate of any drug in its class, including FDA-approved drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro.
Read more here.
Pipeline and deal updates
Home Health: UnitedHealth Group’s Optum division is acquiring home healthcare provider Amedisys for $101 per share, valuing the transaction at $3.3 billion.
Software therapies: Luminopia has announced that it has increased a $16 million Series A round led by US Venture Partners. The investment will be used to support the company’s commercial rollout of its software-based treatment for amblyopia, also known as “lazy eye.”
Concierge ER: Sollis Health has announced that it has secured itself a $15 million extension of its Series A funding, having previously raised $30 million in December 2021. The new capital is aimed at expanding access to emergency care and emergency care from the concierge.
AI camera cleared: The FDA has deleted using Eyenuk’s artificial intelligence system “EyeArt” in LA in conjunction with a Topcon NW400 retinal camera to autonomously detect diabetic retinopathy. This follows the agency’s previous approval for the software to be used with Canon CR-2 AF and CR-2 Plus AF cameras.
AI for privacy: San Francisco-based BeeKeeperAi, which aims to build AI software that protects health data privacy, raised a Series A round of $12.1 million led by Santé Ventures.
Medical Supply Startup Bttn struggles to inject itself into a world of established brands
The medical supplies start-up Bttn is said to be disruptive. Its founders, Forbes Under 30 alumni JT Garwood and Jack Miller, envisioned a “one-stop shop” for healthcare workers, offering everything from N95 masks to wheelchairs hassle-free. Two years after the startup’s inception, and just one year after a $26.5 million fundraising round that valued Bttn at $110 million, customer loyalty to incumbent distributors, supply chain tensions and a climate of waning investor support Bttn made hard to break through.
Read more here.
Other healthcare news
Drugstore giant Walgreens reported that quarterly profits plummeted to $118 million, attributing most of the loss to a significant drop in demand for r Covid tests and vaccines.
Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic and Wegovyannounced that it will take legal action against some weight-loss clinics, medical spas and compounding pharmacies for allegedly illegal versions of its drugs.
The GGD reports that there has been a small outbreak of Malaria In Florida and Texas. Experts warn that such outbreaks could become more common in the US due to climate change.
A watchdog report suggests that the Administration for small businesses maybe more lost than $200 billion in Covid relief funds due to fraud, abuse and waste in his effort to help small businesses during the pandemic.
Straight through Forbes
It’s shockingly easy to buy illegal gun modifications on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
Everything you need to know about lab-grown meat now that it’s here
Forget oil. New Wildcatters drill for unlimited ‘geological’ hydrogen
What else we read
The cancer drug shortage is different (The Atlantic)
Why do some people get rashes in space? There’s a Clue in Astronaut Blood (NPR)