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.
Alex Gorsky, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, takes the stand as a witness in New Jersey Supreme Court in New Brunswick
Reuters
Reuters
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>>
At a mass vaccination site set up in a California Six Flags, a nurse administers the COVID vaccine. The state has delivered 45% of its allotted vaccines, compared to North Dakota's 84% and South Dakota's 75%.
Jae C. Hong/AP Photo
Jae C. Hong/AP Photo
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>>
Medical samples in vacutainer tubes held by a laboratory technician in a medical laboratory on December 5, 2018 in Cardiff, United Kingdom.
Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
Sana Biotechnology has filed to go public. Here are the investors that stand to make the most upon its debut.
Matthew Horwood/Getty Images
- 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