Biden’s Healthcare Nominees | Mark Cuban Generics Startup | Asteroids On Inauguration

Plus: Why Some People Say They Hear Dead People

It is Inauguration Day. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to be sworn in at noon today. His transition team has been busy at work vetting and putting forth nominees for key healthcare and science roles in the administration. Moncef Slaoui, the head of the federal Covid-19 response Operation Warp Speed, is on his way out and will be replaced by former FDA Commissioner David Kessler. Biden’s pick for Health and Human Services Secretary is California attorney general Xavier Becerra and for assistant secretary Pennsylvania health secretary Rachel Levine, who would be the first openly transgender federal official to go before the U.S. Senate for confirmation. Biden’s pick for the CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, an infectious disease physician and professor at Harvard Medical School, isn’t subject to confirmation. Healthcare will be a front-and-center priority for the incoming administration, which aims to get 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine out in its first 100 days. 

The president-elect has yet to put forth names for two big positions: FDA commissioner and CMS administrator. He’s also ramping up roles on the science side. Last week, Biden nominated geneticist and president of the Broad Institute Eric Lander as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and plans to elevate the role to a cabinet position. Alondra Nelson, president of the Social Science Research Council and a Princeton professor, is Biden’s pick for deputy director. Still missing here, though, are nominees to head NASA and NOAA, which also remain unannounced.

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

Billionaire Mark Cuban is mad about the high cost of prescription drugs in the United States, and he’s taking matters into his own hands. While Cuban is best known as an investor on the reality television show Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, you may soon see his name on pill bottles at local hospitals and pharmacies. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company, which launched out of stealth this week, aims to sell 100 different generic drugs at transparent prices by the end of year. 

Noteworthy

Thermo Fisher Scientific is buying rapid Covid-19 test-maker Mesa Biotech for $450 million in cash. 

Businesses including Epic, Cerner and Salesforce are banding together to create digital vaccine ID cards that verify Covid-19 vaccination status. 

Another pandemic mental health crisis: therapist burnout. 

Employers are split on whether to require staff to get Covid-19 vaccines.

Washington State is turning to Starbucks as a partner to speed up Covid-19 vaccine logistics. 

Across Forbes

• Crucial NASA Moon Megarocket Test Shuts Down Earlier Than Planned

• Joe Biden’s Inauguration Day Comes As Several Asteroids Whip By, Like Normal

• NBA Players May Get Covid-19 Vaccine Soon To Demonstrate Its Safety

• Top CEOs Strongly Condemn Washington Riots And Trump—Here Is What They’re Saying

What Else We Are Reading

• How One Employer Stuck a New Mom With an $898,984 Bill for Her Premature Baby (ProPublica)

• The crash landing of 'Operation Warp Speed' (POLITICO)

• Sharon Begley, path-breaking science journalist who spun words into gold, dies at 64 (STAT)