Haven Flames Out | Bumpy Vaccine Rollout | Outer-Space Boom

Plus: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t ‘Detox’ With Frog Poison

Happy New Year and welcome back to your weekly dose of InnovationRx! We’re only six days into 2021 and we already have a candidate for biggest healthcare flop of the year. Haven, a joint venture to rein in employer healthcare costs created by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, is shutting down in February, Forbes senior contributor Bruce Japsen reports. The company, which launched with great fanfare in 2018, saw high leadership turnover, including the departure of CEO Dr. Atul Gawande, though he remained on the board. 

On the Covid-19 front, the U.K. became the first country to authorize the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in December, followed by India. However, U.S. officials have said it likely won’t be available until April, as federal regulators continue to collect data on its effectiveness.

Any questions? Send me an email at kjennings@forbes.com.

While Covid-19 vaccines are being shipped across the U.S., the rate of uptake is lagging. Trump Administration officials had previously predicted there would be 20 million first dose vaccinations by the end of December, but as of January 2nd, only about 4.2 million people have had their first dose, according to a CDC tracker. There are both supply and demand issues, as some people who are eligible are electing not to get vaccinated.

Noteworthy

President-elect Joe Biden promises 100 million Covid-19 vaccinations in first 100 days in offices. 

Health insurer Centene is buying Magellan Health for $2.2 billion to boost mental health offerings. 

A new federal transparency rule went into effect on January 1 that requires hospitals to publish the prices they negotiate with insurers for various medical procedures. 

The World Health Organization released new guidance on exercise recommending at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. 

Out-of-pocket costs for insulin are rising for diabetic patients, even though middlemen are seeing lower costs. 

Across Forbes

• Forbes Science Awards 2020: Prepare For The Outer-Space Stock-Market Boom

• Earth Is At Its Closest To The Sun In 2021

• Mysterious Dolphin Deaths Linked To Climate Change In New Study

• Jack Ma, Chinese Multibillionaire And Founder Of Tech Giant Alibaba, Went Missing After Criticizing China’s Government

What Else We Are Reading

• The First Pig-to-Human Organ Transplants Could Happen This Year (Future Human)

• Pharmacist Accused of Tampering With Vaccine Was Conspiracy Theorist, Police Say (New York Times)

• How 100,000 Pacific Islanders got their health care back (POLITICO)