J&J vaccine data is imminent

Hello,

Walgreens is officially getting a new leader – Starbucks COO Roz Brewer has been named the retail pharmacy’s next CEO. That’ll make her the only Black woman leading a Fortune 500 company. 

And as the Biden administration settles in, it’s providing a bigger picture of its vaccine ambitions. The latest: The US is pledging to get states 10 million shots per week and is buying 200 million additional doses.

Speaking of politics – Sign up for 10 Things in Politics You Need to Know Today – launching next week!

Today in healthcare news: J&J’s vaccine data should be out by next week, how the Dakotas successfully rolled out vaccines, and the biggest investors in Sana Biotechnology heading into the IPO. 

Johnson & Johnson's CEO says crucial coronavirus vaccine data will come by early next week

• We'll know if a single-dose coronavirus vaccine works by early next week, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky said Tuesday.
• The healthcare giant is wrapping up a massive study testing its shot against a placebo.
• If successful, J&J plans to deliver 100 million doses to the US by the end of June.

Read the full story from Andrew Dunn and Natasha Dailey here>>

How the Dakotas are successfully rolling out COVID vaccines - and 2 major lessons for larger states

• North Dakota and South Dakota are two of the states doing the best job at distributing coronavirus vaccines.
• Despite an uneven nationwide rollout, they've excelled due to centralized storage and vaccination sites.
• Flexibility and collaboration between health systems has been key to getting approximately 80% of delivered vaccines into arms.

Read the full story from Patricia Kelly Yeo here>>

Sana Biotechnology has filed to go public. Here are the investors that stand to make the most upon its debut.

• Seattle-based Sana Biotechnology has filed to go public.
• The cell and gene therapy startup won't launch its clinical trials for at least a year.
• Noted life sciences investors Flagship Pioneering and Arch Venture Partners are its biggest shareholders pre-IPO.

Read the full story from Allison DeAngelis here>>

More stories we're reading: 

• A growing number of lung cancer cases are showing up in people who've never smoked (Stat News)
• Verily just bolstered its leadership team with a former hospital exec and a chief marketer as it comes off a turbulent year (Insider)
• Reports that AstraZeneca's vaccine is less effective in older people appear to be based on botched statistics, the German government says (Insider)
• Sanofi is going to produce 100 million Pfizer/BioNTech doses (Reuters)

- Lydia