50 Over 50 EMEA | Reversing Vaccine Mandates | $150M For GI Diseases

Plus: Novak Djokovic’s mysterious biotech firm

This week Forbes published another installment of its 50 Over 50 list, which highlights the women founders, politicians, business leaders and scientists leading the way throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Leading the pack is Özlem Türeci, the 54-year-old cofounder and chief medical officer of German-based BioNTech, which developed the mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in partnership with Pfizer. Sarah Gilbert is another woman instrumental in the Covid-19 vaccine race. The 59-year-old vaccinologist at Oxford University is a co-inventor of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, for which she was recognized with a damehood and even had a Barbie doll made in her honor.

Another pioneering scientist, Emmanuel Charpentier made the list for her work developing the gene editing technology Crispr. The 53-year-old microbiologist won the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry alongside Jennifer Doudna, and she is also a cofounder of CRISPR Therapeutics. Matshidiso Moeti made history as the first woman to be appointed as WHO Regional Director for Africa in 2015. The 57-year-old Botswana native is now in her second five-year term at the international agency. Check out the full list here. 

Iterative Scopes  uses AI and machine learning to give doctors a second set of eyes to help detect colon polyps, abnormal clumps of cells budding out of the colon, as well as features of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and other gastrointestinal disorders. Polyps over time can turn into colorectal cancers, which is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The Boston based-startup raised $150 million in Series B round this week led by Insight Partners and Clearlake Capital Group, Johnson and Johnson Innovation Inc., Eli Lilly and Breyer Capital, taking its total funding to $195 million.

Deals Of The Week

Good Genes: Genetic testing company Sema4, which went public in a SPAC deal earlier this year, is acquiring GeneDX, a subsidiary of OPKO Health, for up to $623 in cash and stock based on certain milestones. The combined company is estimating $350 million in 2022 revenue.

Global Expansion: Mental health benefits company Lyra Health scored a $235 million Series E, bringing the company’s valuation to $5.85 billion, according to Fierce Healthcare. Lyra also acquired employee assistance program company ICAS World, which operates in more than 160 countries and 66 languages. 

Billion Dollar Biopharma: Belgian pharma company UCB is acquiring epilepsy drugmaker Zogenix for around $1.9 billion. The company’s drug Fintepla brought in around $100 million in its first year of sales, according to Endpoints News.

‘Vaccinal Antibodies’: Vir Biotechnology is expanding its partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop broadly neutralizing antibodies that would have a vaccine-like effect for HIV and malaria prevention, including a $40 million equity investment and $10 million grant. 

Noteworthy

UnitedHealth Group’s profits eclipsed $4 billion in the fourth quarter of last year thanks to a strong performance in the company’s health insurance business led by Medicare growth.

Valo Health is partnering with Charles River Laboratories to accelerate pre-clinical drug discovery. 

The total number of hospital M&A deals are down, but the size of the deals are up, according to a new analysis. 

Coronavirus Updates

After theSupreme Court blocked the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for large employers, Starbucks is reversing its vaccine mandate for employees. It’s not alone. General Electric is rolling back its vaccine and testing plans, too. Other companies across industries are still continuing with vaccine mandates, however, including Carhartt, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, United Airlines and more. In that effort, they have the support of 56% of Americans who think employers should require Covid-19 vaccines, with 33% opposed to employer mandates. 

Technically speaking, the Supreme Court’s ruling was merely to uphold a stay on enforcement of the mandate. Thedecision about the legality of the mandate has been sent back to the Sixth Circuit. It’s likely, however, that the decision will once again come before the Supreme Court, which has public health expert Lawrence Gostin worried. If, in its final decision, the Court strikes down the OSHA rule requiring vaccinations, Gostin writes that “the Court’s legal logic could make it nearly impossible for federal regulators to promote the general welfare of the public. He addedit may hamper federal agencies’ ability to respond quickly to public safety and health emergencies. It could have a knock on effect of stifling business, says Gostin. “If it’s up to Congress to decide every rule for every situation,” he writes, “it could take years or decades to make changes that keep up with innovative technology that agencies handle as a matter of routine, hindering the ability of businesses to effectively compete against incumbents.”

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In other coronavirus news:

New research suggests rapid antigen tests to detect Covid-19 don’t work as well on children and fail to meet minimum performance standards set by public health regulators.

Walgreens has launched its own Covid-19 surveillance system to help identify the spread of virus variants across the U.S. in “near real-time.”

Breastfeeding women infected with Covid-19 cannot transmit the virus through breast milk, according to new research published Tuesday. 

In an interview with the Boston Globe, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky defended controversial public health decisions her agency has made. 

The Supreme Court upheld the federal mask mandate for public transportation, which requires travelers to wear masks inside airports and on airplanes. It’s currently set to expire March 18. 

Across Forbes

• America’s Top Givers 2022: The 25 Most Philanthropic Billionaires

• Daymond John Is On A Mission

• Investors Poured Record $14.5 Billion Into Space Companies Including Elon Musk’s SpaceX In 2021

What Else We Are Reading

• After Omicron, we could use a break. We may just get it (Stat)

• Going bald? Lab-grown hair cells could be on the way (MIT Technology Review)

• Officials Struggle to Regulate Pop-Up Covid Testing Sites — And Warn Patients to Beware (Kaiser Health News)