Month: October 2024

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Sport

2024 MLB Division Collection: Day 6 Stay Updates, Evaluation

2024 MLB Division Series: Day 6 Live Updates, Analysis

Oct. 10, 2024, 9:23 p.m. ET

For the Kansas City Royals, it's win-or-go-home time in the American League Division Series.

In the first of two ALDS games on Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians avoided elimination against the up-and-coming Detroit Tigers with a 5-4 win. They meet Saturday in Cleveland for a winner-take-all Game 5. Now, in the late matchup, the Royals are trying to keep the New York Yankees from celebrating an ALCS berth at their field in Kansas City.

We've covered everything from live updates and analysis during games to insights after the final pitch and next steps for each team.

Jump to: Live updates | Lineups, encounters

Live updates

Today's encounters

The series was tied 2-2

The best game of the series provided highlights for both teams, but it was the Guardians who forced a Game 5 in Cleveland on Saturday thanks to the heroics of designated hitter David Fry. who wasn't even in the starting line-up. Fry came off the bench and hit a two-run home run in the seventh, giving the Guardians, who were trailing 3-2 at the time, the lead. Fry added an RBI on a squeeze play two innings later, cementing his status as the night's MVP. The game was tied 1-1 and 2-2 before Detroit took its only lead in the sixth on an RBI hit by pinch-hitter Wenceel Perez. The drama continued in the later innings when Guardians seamer Emmanuel Clase was asked to complete a five-out save. He gave up a run in the ninth, but finished off Matt Vierling and the Tigers, giving him a strikeout.

What to watch in Game 5: The Tigers lost Game 4, but they have the automatic advantage heading into Game 5 because Tarik Skubal is fully rested and ready to play the biggest game of his life. The likely Cy Young winner beat the Guardians over seven innings in Game 2 and has yet to give up a run in the postseason. It's unclear what Cleveland will do to counter him – Matthew Boyd is the likely starter – but either way, the Guardians will be underdogs against one of the best in the game.

New York leads the series 2-1

Pitching Matchup: Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.41 ERA) vs. Michael Wacha (13-8, 3.35 ERA)

Starting lineups:

Yankees

Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
Juan Soto (left) RF
Aaron Judge (R) CF
Austin Wells (left) C
Giancarlo Stanton (R) DH
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (L) 3B
Anthony Volpe (R) SS
Alex Verdugo (L) LF
Jon Berti (R) 1B

Royals

Michael Massey (L) 2B
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) SS
Vinnie Pasquantino (L) DH
Salvador Perez (R) C
Yuli Gurriel (R) 1B
MJ Melendez (L) LF
Tommy Pham (R) RF
Kyle Isbel (left) CF
Michael Garcia (R) 3B

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Entertainment

Tennessee grandmother arrested after deadly capturing of her grandson

Tennessee Grandmother Charged After 8-Year-Old Grandson's Fatal Shooting With Alleged Unattended Loaded Gun Philip'e Woodard Gracie Patton Mimms

Police arrested a Tennessee grandmother after her 8-year-old grandson accidentally shot himself with a loaded gun she had left accessible. Miami Herald reports that authorities charged the 48-year-old Gracie Patton Mimms, leaving her 8-year-old grandson, Philip'e Woodardhome alone on (September 14th).

RELATED: Texas mother fatally shot by ex-partner at child's 6th birthday party

Details about the tragic shooting of a Tennessee child left alone by his grandmother

According to PEOPLE, Philip'e Woodard was in the care of Gracie Patton Mimms when he accidentally shot himself in her Nashville home. According to the Miami Herald, Mimms allegedly left Woodard at home with his 10-year-old brother and a 16-year-old family friend while she went out to “spend time with friends.” During this time, Woodard accidentally shot himself and later died after arriving at the hospital that same day.

After the shooting, officers discovered four live cartridges in the magazine, court records show. Investigators concluded that Mimm's lack of supervision contributed to her grandson's death.

“Mimms believed she was the person responsible for Phillip'e when she left the house on N. 2nd Street to spend time with friends.” explained the police.

Additionally, Mimms told investigators she knew the gun was in the children's room but assumed it was unloaded, WSMV explained.

What's next for the Tennessee grandmother and details about her arrest?

On October 3, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department announced that Gracie Patton Mimms was charged with criminal homicide and aggravated child neglect in connection with the September death of her grandson Philip'e Woodard.

PEOPLE reveals that online jail records indicate Mimms remains in custody on $150,000 bail. It remains unclear whether she has filed a lawsuit, and no attorney has commented on her situation.

RELATED: Child shot by Mississippi police officers after calling 911 Details Persistent horror: “I can see myself in the coffin”

What do you think, roommates?

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Technology

Google DeepMind duo wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Google DeepMind duo wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Google DeepMind scientists Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry today.

The duo will share the prestigious award, considered the pinnacle of scientific achievement, with University of Washington Professor David Bakker for their work on computational protein design.

“This prize represents the promise of computational biology,” Jumper said during a press conference Wednesday.

Hassabis co-founded DeepMind in 2014. Jumper was named director last year. The duo won their Nobel Prize for developing an AI model that solved a 50-year-old challenge in biology: predicting the structure of proteins.

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The tool, called AlphaFold2, can predict over 200 million protein structures – almost all known to science – based on their amino acid sequences.

This allows researchers to understand how proteins function and interact with other molecules in the body, providing unprecedented insight into disease development and drug development.

The effect of AlphaFold2

Since its launch, AlphaFold2 – which is freely available – has been used by more than 2 million scientists in 190 countries. It has supported numerous areas of research, from projects on malaria vaccines and Parkinson's treatments to drug-resistant bacteria.

The immediate impact of AlphaFold2 is to accelerate research, Jumper said during the press conference.

“I think that through our work we will soon get better and better at using biology and our understanding of biology to make drugs,” he added. “I hope that this will ultimately lead to us being able to respond better to pandemics, for example.”

Hassabis said he has dedicated his life to AI because it can “improve the lives of billions of people.” However, he warned that artificial intelligence can do both good and bad.

“As these systems and techniques become more powerful, we need to think really hard about how we can enable and strengthen all the benefits and good use cases while mitigating the risks.”

As artificial intelligence changes the face of fundamental science, the Nobel Prize in Physics was also awarded to two AI researchers: John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for their work training neural networks using physics.

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Health

Former Pfizer CEO and CFO breaks out of Starboard activist marketing campaign

Former Pfizer CEO and CFO breaks out of Starboard activist campaign

Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ian Read speaks as President Donald Trump (left) listens during an announcement on a new pharmaceutical glass packaging initiative in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 20, 2017.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Former Pfizer CEO Ian Read and former CFO Frank D'Amelio said Wednesday evening that they were withdrawing from Starboard Value's campaign at the troubled pharmaceutical giant, just days after news of the activist's involvement broke.

Read and D'Amelio said they “fully support” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in a joint statement issued through an investment bank and confirmed as authentic. The duo had been in contact with several directors shortly before news of Starboard's involvement broke Sunday evening, according to people familiar with the matter.

“We are confident that they will create value for shareholders over time,” the two former executives said of Pfizer’s current board and management. The company's shares are essentially flat for the year and are about 50% below their 2021 highs.

The statement was made by Guggenheim Securities, which has long advised Pfizer on the deal. A representative for the bank declined to comment beyond publication.

The about-face comes as Pfizer's board grapples with the activist's efforts and just days before Starboard's Jeff Smith was scheduled to meet with CEO Bourla, people familiar with the matter said. For executives to join and then leave an activist's campaign is highly unusual.

It also wasn't immediately clear what impact, if any, the spinoff would have on Starboard's campaign. A representative for the activist fund did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Starboard, one of the largest and most persistent activist funds, has built a roughly $1 billion stake in the pharmaceutical company, CNBC previously reported.

Jeff Smith, the managing member at Starboard, has previously campaigned at Autodesk And Salesforce in the last few months. While it typically focuses on the technology sector, it has also built holdings Starbucks and parent company of the Wall Street Journal News Corp this year.

Pfizer representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Categories
Science

Excellent news. Comet Encke threw only a handful of big house rocks our approach

Good news. Comet Encke threw just a handful of giant space rocks our way

As comets travel in their orbit, they shed material along the way. A debris flow known as the Taurid swarm has caught the attention of astronomers. The debris is believed to be remnants of Comet Encke, which also fueled the Taurid meteor shower. The swarm is thought to consist largely of harmless, tiny objects, but there are fears there could also be some larger, kilometer-sized chunks. Fortunately, new observations show that there are on the order of 9-14 of these 1 km large rocks.

Planets, minor planets, asteroids and of course comets are the inhabitants of our solar system. The comets are small objects composed mostly of ice and dust or rocky material. A wonderful and apt description of these icy wanderers are dirty snowballs. Imagine picking up a handful of snow and ice on a winter day. It is likely that pieces of earth and stone get mixed up under the snow, and that is what earned them this name. They come from remote parts of the solar system, particularly the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. As they approach the sun, the heat causes the ice to sublimate into a gas, creating the gaseous coma and long tail. As the com moves in its orbit, the sublimation of the ice releases dust and debris along the way.

Comet image from Hubble

One such comet is known as Comet Encke, a short-period comet with an orbital period of 3.3 years. It was first discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1786 and its orbit was calculated by Johnann Franz Encke at the end of the 19th century. While most comets come from the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud, Encke seems to have found a way closer to the Sun with regular, predictable visits. Like all comets, Encke deposits debris along the way, resulting in the Taurid meteor shower, visible in late October/early November.

Comet Encke, imaged by NASA's Mercury MESSENGER spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA

A team of astronomers used the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) telescope to explore large swathes of the sky to study the stream of debris that is believed to have drifted down from the main Taurid stream. This drifting swarm is believed to be the remnants of Comet Encke. It has long puzzled astronomers and raised concerns that rocks may be heading toward Earth. That is, until now.

The study built on previous efforts to analyze the swarm and had identified a significant number of kilometer-class rocks. Objects of this size would pose a significant threat to Earth. We were reminded of such dangers back in 2013 by the Chelyabinsk asteroid, which exploded over Russia and injured over 1,600 people.

This image of a contrail was taken about 200 kilometers from the Chelyabinsk meteor event, about a minute after the house-sized asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere. Photo credit: Alex Alishevskikh

The team announced their findings at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences. They confirmed that, contrary to expectations, there are only a handful of asteroids, perhaps up to 14 kilometers in size. Deputy research scientist Quanzhi Ye explained: “Judging from our findings, the parent object that originally created the swarm was probably closer to 10 kilometers in diameter than a massive 100-kilometer object.” “We still need to be on our guard.” “It could be asteroid impacts, but now that we know these results we can probably sleep better.”

By studying features like the Taurid swarm, we can learn more about smaller objects in the solar system and how they break apart over time. The study will also support future asteroid detection and defense planning exercises if real threats are identified. As for the Taurid swarm, follow-up observations will be completed in the coming years as the swarm passes close to Earth again.

Source: New study allays concerns about a possible 'doomsday' asteroid swarm

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Sport

The Texans positioned Nico Collins, the NFL's receiving yards chief, on IR

The Texans placed Nico Collins, the NFL's receiving yards leader, on IR

  • DJ Bien-Aime, ESPNOct. 9, 2024, 10:39 a.m. ET

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      DJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July 2022 after covering the New York Jets. He is a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch DJ on ESPN Radio on his show “Talkin' Texans.”

The Houston Texans have placed wide receiver Nico Collins on injured reserve and have him sidelined for at least the next four games.

Collins, who leads the NFL with 567 receiving yards this season, suffered a hamstring injury in the first quarter of Houston's 23-20 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 5. The injury occurred when quarterback CJ Stroud launched a deep pass to Collins for a 67-yard touchdown to give the Texans a 14-3 lead.

Collins limped to the sideline after the score and eventually went to the locker room. He did not return to the game.

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On Monday, coach DeMeco Ryans said Collins is getting injured “week to week” and that replacing his performance will require a team effort.

“Nico was the best receiver in the NFL this year. So do you replace him? “No, everyone just performs and whatever role you're supposed to do, just perform and play your role the right way,” Ryans said. “Nobody has to be Nico. There is a Nico, he did great. Now, whoever is next, when your number is called, make the plays you’re supposed to make.”

It was difficult to replace Collins in Week 5, as the Texans only scored nine points after he left. Even with Collins, the Texans' offense was not a high-performing unit, as they ranked 19th in scoring offense with 20 points per game.

Stroud is third in passing yards (1,385), but has been two different quarterbacks with Collins on and off the field.

When attacking Collins, Stroud had a passer rating of 133 and the duo led the NFL in expected points added (34.6). Especially when Collins is on the field, even when not targeted, Stroud has a passer rating of 107 while completing 70% of his throws for a 7:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

But when Collins isn't on the field, Stroud has zero touchdowns, one interception, completes 64% of his passes and has a 72 passer rating.

The Texans' offense has already been without Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon, who has missed the last three weeks with an ankle injury, and it is uncertain whether Mixon will return in Week 6 against the New England Patriots.

In Collins' absence, wideout Stefon Diggs will step into the No. 1 receiver role. Diggs is seventh in receptions (31) and finished with a game-high 82 yards in the Texans' Week 5 win. Tank Dell's role will increase after he had a quiet start to the season as he averaged 34 yards per game compared to last season when he averaged 64 yards per game as a rookie.

The Texans' next four games are against the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets. Only the Jets (136 yards per game) have a pass defense that ranks in the top five in yards allowed per game. The Colts (262.2) are 29th, the Packers are 23rd (231.6) and the Patriots are 25th (239.0).

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Science

“Electrical energy on the free market” – is that an issue?

“Electricity on the free market” – is that a problem?

Out of masterresource

By Robert Bradley Jr.

“A free market in electricity would override the current provisions of landmark federal laws, such as the Power Act of 1935, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, the Energy Policy Act of 1992, and the Energy Policy Act of 1995 and Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”

My new AIER primer defines and applies the classic liberal free market worldview to electricity. This is particularly important because this common sense perspective has been both forgotten and misapplied.

Forgotten amid criticism of traditional public utility regulation that emerged in the 1960s; misapplied in light of the current era of mandatory open access, which involves centralized planning at the wholesale level with ISOs/RTOs.

My main points regarding quotes are:

1. Electricity is a free market product with a clear free market, classical liberal meaning: the separation of government and electricity at all stages and as a whole.

“A free electricity market is defined as the absence of government ownership, control or regulation. Electricity and government are separate, except for legal protection from violence or fraud. The government neutrally safeguards the enforceability of private contracts and other legal market norms.”

“…contrary to government direction and control, from municipal ownership to franchise protection and cost-based rate caps (regulation of public utilities); to mandatory open access for outsiders (free takeover); to the need for renewable energies (the forced energy substitution of wind and solar).”

“Grid power has never been viewed as a shared resource that conflicts with definable private property rights and efficient operations. The “commons” theory of government organization only emerged with government-mandated open access broadcasting, which itself is a clear violation of private property rights.”

2. Although electricity has unique characteristics, it is subject to market forces and does not require government intervention or ownership. Empirically, the US energy sector has a clear free market history – and there is no demonstrable market failure.

“The unique nature of electricity required highly coordinated multi-phase operation, as seen in oil and gas (in a free market). There was no need for federal franchise protection.”

“The market era was characterized by falling rates, increasing usage and reliable service…” Market-driven integrated operations resulted in unprecedented affordability and continuous, coordinated service.”

3. Electricity is now the second most regulated sector of the U.S. economy after money and banking (outside of the military-industrial complex). It is an unholy mix of public utility regulation; government-enabled diluted, intermittent wind and solar power; and mandatory open access.

“Today, more and more regions are affected by rising electricity tariffs, energy conservation objections and service interruptions.”

4. Mandatory open access has brought its own problems under de facto socialism, particularly reliability pricing.

“Economic calculations have weighed on ISO/RTOs…” Some regions have implemented “capacity fees” to reward generators for their standby capacity. Others have bet on “energy-only” prices, betting that periodic price drops would create enough capacity.”

“Consumer welfare and the 'duty to provide service' have been lost in the transition to central planning and in the government's drive to decarbonise. Worse, agency errors…were protected by sovereign immunity.”

5. Future public policy begins with federal deregulation of the electricity industry (state deregulation would have to follow).

“A free market in electricity would override the current provisions of landmark federal laws, such as the Power Act of 1935, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, the Energy Policy Act of 1992, and the Energy Policy Act of 1995 and Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.”

“Competition could be direct competition with duplicate assets, or it could be a single company asserting a market over potential competitors. Either way, the private and public costs of government intervention could be avoided and market signals could be established.”

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Laneige Prime Day 2024 Offers: 30% Off Celeb Merchandise

Laneige Prime Day 2024 Deals: 30% Off Celebrity Products

Why is the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask so popular?

The Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask is popular among beauty lovers for its remarkable ability to hydrate and repair dry lips overnight. Its unique formulation contains Hyaluronic Acid and Vitamin C to nourish and plump lips while creating a protective barrier that locks in moisture for soft, supple results in the morning.

Available in delicious Berry, Grapefruit and Apple Lime flavors, this mask not only nourishes your lips but also improves your skincare experience. Widely recommended by celebrities and beauty influencers, Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask has earned its place as a must-have in many routines thanks to its combination of high-quality ingredients and proven effectiveness in providing smooth, hydrated lips.

Laneige's must-have products

When it comes to top beauty products, Laneige stands out as a must-have selection that every beauty enthusiast should explore. Not only do their best-sellers compete with other skincare brands, but they also boast unique benefits tailored to different skin needs. The Laneige Water Sleeping Mask in particular enjoys cult status due to its unparalleled hydrating and revitalizing properties. A more in-depth comparative analysis highlights the superiority of Laneige products over the competition in the market and sets a new standard in skin care excellence.

This success is reflected in enthusiastic customer testimonials and glowing Laneige product reviews, cementing Laneige's reputation as a premium skincare brand that truly delivers on its promises.

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Health

What activist Starboard's stake means for Pfizer

What activist Starboard's stake means for Pfizer

Jakub Porzycki | Photo only | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions.

Happy Tuesday! PfizerThe problems could finally come to a head.

Recent reports suggest that former executives of the pharmaceutical giant are supporting activist investor Starboard Value's push to turn around the troubled company.

Starboard holds a roughly $1 billion stake in the drugmaker and turned to former Pfizer CEO Ian Read and former CFO Frank D'Amelio, both of whom expressed interest in supporting the activist investor's efforts to shake up the company, CNBC previously reported. As of late Tuesday, Pfizer had a market capitalization of about $165 billion.

Read and D'Amelio forwarded Starboard's proposals to several of the company's board members on Sunday, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the discussions. Still, the details of the turnaround plan are sparse.

Read was Pfizer's CEO from 2010 to 2018, while D'Amelio was Pfizer's chief financial officer from 2007 to 2021.

Here's why it matters: Read and D'Amelio's reported involvement is a rare example of former executives joining in what could be an activist fight for the future of one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.

At Pfizer, whose shares have fallen more than 30% in the past two years, investors are demanding change. The company has struggled to recover from the rapid decline in its Covid business, which brought in record-breaking sales at the height of the pandemic.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is under increasing pressure after several commercial missteps over the past two years – including disappointing data on an experimental obesity pill and a slower-than-expected rollout of a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine – as well as a costly development To improve the company's performance M&A strategy that does not yet generate any significant returns.

Pfizer is betting big on oncology, particularly its whopping $43 billion acquisition of cancer drug developer Seagen, to regain its footing. But it could take years for this deal to pay off. Meanwhile, Pfizer last month pulled a key sickle cell anemia drug from the global market – the centerpiece of its roughly $5 billion acquisition of Global Blood Therapeutics in 2022.

Starboard's turnaround push raises questions about Bourla's fate at the company.

“We have been sensing investor frustration with CEO Albert Bourla since at least early 2023,” BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman wrote in a research note on Monday.

Still, he said, “While it may seem easy to blame one person, it rarely leads to a quick turnaround.”

Other analysts also said there may not be a quick fix from an activist investor.

“We await future developments, but we see no low-hanging fruit to drive shareholder value,” David Risinger, an analyst at Leerink Partners, wrote in a research note on Monday.

Risinger said that's because the company faces “a hit to revenue growth” over the next five years due to expiration of patents on its top-selling drugs and pressure from competitors. Pfizer has also made significant efforts to reduce costs, he added. The company said last fall it would cut costs by $4 billion and in May announced another multi-year plan to cut spending by about $1.5 billion by 2027.

Pfizer's debt is also relatively high, Risinger said, at $57.5 billion as of June 30. He said this could only be partially reduced by selling more shares in his assets, such as consumer healthcare company Haleon.

We will continue to follow Starboard's turnaround push, so stay tuned for our coverage.

Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.

The latest in health tech: Hims & Hers will join the S&P SmallCap 600 as questions arise about the future of its weight-loss offering

Shares of Health for him and hera direct-to-consumer healthcare company closed up 10% on Monday after announcing the stock would be added to the S&P SmallCap 600.

S&P Dow Jones Indices said Hims & Hers will replace Vector Group before the opening bell on Oct. 9, according to a statement Friday. Japan Tobacco on Monday completed its acquisition of Vector Group, which operates tobacco and real estate businesses.

Hims & Hers offers treatments for weight loss, sexual health, hair loss and other conditions, and its stock is up nearly 120% year-to-date as of Monday's close. However, the company's shares plunged last week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced there was no longer a shortage of tirzepatide injections.

Tirzepatide is the active ingredient in Eli Lilly's GLP-1 weight loss drug Zepbound and the diabetes drug Mounjaro. Hims & Hers doesn't offer these drugs through its platform, but CEO Andrew Dudum told investors in August that the company plans to introduce access to compounded versions as well as branded versions in the near future, as availability permits.

Compounded medications are tailored alternatives to brand-name medications and can be manufactured when brand-name medications are in short supply. Hims & Hers offers its customers compounded versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 products Wegovy and Ozempic.

“We do not currently offer access to tirzepatide,” a spokesperson for Hims & Hers said in a statement to CNBC on Monday. “When we bring a treatment to our platform, our first consideration is how accessible it is to the vast majority of customers and how accessible remedies are consistently available at a reasonable price.”

Hims & Hers is one of several digital health companies selling compounded GLP-1 drugs as a cheaper alternative for consumers as demand for weight loss and diabetes drugs increases. But they're not a foolproof way to capture a slice of the obesity drug market, which some analysts estimate could generate $100 billion in annual sales by 2030.

Both Zepbound and Mounjaro are under patent protection in the United States, and Eli Lilly does not supply the active ingredient in these two drugs to outside groups. The FDA warned last week that outsourcing facilities are generally prohibited from making copies of an approved drug unless it is on the shortage list.

“When a drug shortage is resolved, the FDA generally assumes that the drug is commercially available,” the agency said on its website. “Certain amounts are permitted by law as long as compounding does not occur ‘regularly or in disproportionate amounts’.”

Although Hims & Hers does not offer compounded tirzepatide, the FDA's announcement was enough to spook investors. Shares of Hims & Hers closed down nearly 10% on Thursday.

Analysts at Citi said Hims & Hers will not be directly affected by the tirzepatide news, but it limits the company's total addressable market. It also suggests that shortages could be resolved more quickly than expected, they added.

“HIMS has asserted that it will be able to further compound GLP-1 after the shortage subsides by changing the form factor/formulation/dosage for an individual's clinical benefit,” the analysts wrote in a note dated Thursday. “In our view, this sets HIMS up for litigation in the coming months.”

Feel free to send tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.caroot@nbcuni.com.

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Technology

European Funding Financial institution develops new financing plan to maintain startups within the EU

European Investment Bank develops new financing plan to keep startups in the EU

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is considering new measures to close the funding gap for European startups and prevent their migration across the Atlantic.

At a meeting with EU finance ministers in Luxembourg yesterday, the EIB presented its “action plan” aimed at strengthening Europe's capital markets, investment and competitiveness.

A key pillar of the plan is to increase support for the EU's venture capital and private equity markets to enable the expansion of innovative start-ups and unicorns.

This includes three different measures, starting with the expansion of the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI). Launched in 2023, ETCI is a fund of funds that provides late-stage capital to European companies. Investments amounting to 1 billion euros have been completed by February 2024.

The EIB also plans to support equity and venture capital investments for scale-ups and will work towards creating a new exit platform to facilitate acquisitions and IPOs for technology startups.

The

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“The action plan discussed with ministers will help European innovators grow their businesses and help turn savings into productive investments,” EIB Group President Nadia Calviño said in a statement.

Calviño added that the measures will promote innovation and job creation and ultimately “ensure that European companies born in Europe stay in Europe.”

Europe's innovation gap

The EIB's proposed plan comes a month after Mario Draghi sounded the alarm about the EU's inability to commercialize innovation.

In a report commissioned by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, Draghi warned that the bloc was falling well behind competitors such as the United States.

“The problem is not that Europe lacks ideas or ambitions,” said the former Italian prime minister.

“But innovation is blocked at the next level: we fail to convert innovation into commercialization.”

According to the report, only four European companies are among the world's 50 largest tech giants. Furthermore, no EU-based technology company has achieved a market capitalization of more than 100 billion euros in the last half century. This is in stark contrast to the US, where there are six such companies valued at over €1 trillion.

To further illustrate the EU's challenges, the report also showed that between 2008 and 2021, almost a third of European unicorns relocated abroad, with the majority moving to the US.