Under 30 Disruptors | Omicron Reaches U.S. | UNH Boosts Revenues

Plus: P&G recalls antiperspirant sprays due to cancer risk of benzene

It’s a very exciting day at Forbes as we unveiled the 2022 30 Under 30 Class and introduced the next generation of movers and shakers disrupting healthcare and science. As we are rounding year two of the Covid-19 pandemic and the healthcare disparities laid bare by the virus, many of the U30 listers are working to address health equity issues through activism, data and technology. Victor Lopez-Carmen, 27, is a medical student at Harvard and advocates for Indigenous issues at the international level as elected co-chair of the United Nations Global Indigenous Youth Caucus. Another medical student, LaShyra “Lash” Nolen, 26, founded Boston-based We Got Us to address disparities in vaccine access and vaccine misinformation in communities of color. 

One key business issue this year was how biotech and pharma companies can make clinical trials, which have historically been majority white patients, be more reflective of the U.S. population. With New York-based startup H1, cofounder and CEO Ariel Katz, 28, has raised $171 million for the company’s data platform to help companies figure out the best doctor to involve in a clinical trials, which includes demographic information about patient populations. Tom Lemberg, 29, founder and CEO of Curebase, is on a mission “to enable any patient, anywhere to participate in clinical trials” by helping local, community hospitals enroll patients rather than just elite medical institutions. 

A unifying theme on this year’s science list was listers who are leveraging technology to improve patient access. This includes Alex Abramson, 29, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, who developed an ingestible robotic capsule to deliver biologic drugs, which normally require an injection or infusion. His approach, published in Science, has worked in large animal models with drugs including insulin and Humira. Jacob George, 28 who leads the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab is working to commercialize its "Luke arm" (a nod to Skywalker of Star Wars), which connects a prosthetic arm directly to the nervous system and enables a sense of touch.

Check out all the different Forbes 30 Under 30 categories here: https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30/2022/

The company is estimating revenue will surpass $300 billion next year as the diversified healthcare giant continues to successfully meld its insurance business with the provision of medical care. It’s been a good year this year for UnitedHealth and in general for health insurance companies, which have reported larger than expected profits at times during the pandemic in part because Americans have delayed getting healthcare services and some routine care.

Noteworthy

Best Buy ventures into healthcare as it acquires at-home healthtech company Current Health for $400 million. 

Researchers estimate HPV vaccines administered in the U.K. from 2008-2012 have contributed to 450 fewer cases of cervical cancer and 17,200 fewer cases of pre-cancerous cells being identified. 

Digital health company Sesame says patients using its cash-pay healthcare marketplace had saved between 20% and 67% on the cost of healthcare services.

On World AIDS Day (December 1), a doctor reflects on how far we’ve come in treating HIV/AIDs since the first case was reported in the 1980s.  . 

Coronavirus Updates

The first confirmed case of the Omicron variant was confirmed today in California, says the CDC. That brings the total number of countries in which the new variant has been found up to 24, with nations in Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas now having confirmed cases. Public health officials have traced the earliest known case to Nigeria in October, but it may have been circulating even before that. The spread of the new variant has been the cause of concern, with new polls showing Americans more worried about Omicron than they were about Delta. Those concerns have impacted the markets, too - stocks plunged today on news that Omicron has arrived in America.

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In other coronavirus news:

Waning vaccine immunity among the elderly and immunocompromised is a primary reason why accelerating booster campaigns is so important.

The U.S. has yet to embrace the power of mass rapid testing, but doing so could be key to preventing a surge of new Covid cases. 

Despite concerns about the omicron variant, travelers aren’t cancelling any trips right now. 

The United States is preparing to toughen testing requirements for travelers arriving by plane from other countries.

Across Forbes

• Jaw-Dropping Jupiter And Its Volcanic Moon Star In Latest Images From NASA Spacecraft

• World Leaders Fail To Expand Protections Around Antarctica Yet Again

• Ray Dalio Says America’s Decline Will Upend Lives, Not Just Portfolios

What Else We Are Reading

• Why Only 36 Percent of South African Adults Are Vaccinated (New York Times)

• Moderna could be sued over vaccines as court upholds Arbutus patents (Reuters)

• Moderna could be sued over vaccines as court upholds Arbutus patents (Reuters)

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