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Update on Biomed Innovation in Brazil

Brazil’s health care sector, one of the most fragmented in the world, is going through a consolidation. This process started in 2015 with regulatory…

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By Denise Golgher, PhD, and Robert Rodrigues

Four years ago, we wrote about biomedical innovation in Brazil.1 Human health digital technologies and molecular diagnostics were described as the major drivers of innovation in the country. Meanwhile, diagnostic companies and private research hospitals were considered protagonists of a complex ecosystem. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the health care system changed, and new research is of utmost relevance.

Since COVID-19, health providers and stakeholders of the biomedical ecosystem have had to adapt to a new reality: digital business became mandatory. The urgent need for digital transformation allowed no time for prejudices or bureaucratic sagas and accelerated the pace of desperately needed institutional changes. Telemedicine, remote work, collaborations—it all had to work.

Brazil’s health care sector, one of the most fragmented in the world,2 is going through a consolidation process. This process started in 2015 with regulatory changes that allowed foreign investments in the health sector of the country. While there were five merger and acquisitions (hospital deals) in 2015, we saw 32 M&As happening in 2021.3 If clinical laboratories are considered, the number jumps to 137 M&As.4

The diagnostic companies and private hospitals, thought of as probable outputs of innovation, now have leading roles in integrating different segments of the health care market. To achieve this, they have relied on startups, which proliferated greatly in the past few years and have enjoyed an unprecedent amount of angel and seed capital. In the midst of several ongoing developments, the text below offers a glimpse of this fast-moving landscape.

Integrating health care

Approximately three years ago, DASA, the biggest diagnostic company in Brazil, made the first move toward integrating health care by investing in the acquisition of hospitals. It became the second biggest hospital group, behind Rede D’Or. DASA’s main competitor in the diagnostic field, Fleury, recently merged with Hermes Pardini, another giant in diagnostics. The merger brought Fleury-Hermes Pardini revenues closer to its rival.5 Also, in the course of integrating medical care, Fleury has acquired (and still is acquiring) medical clinics.

Figure 1 indicates two additional institutions that are often in the headlines as leaders of the consolidation process, Rede D’Or and the Hapvida-Intermédica group. The merger of Hapvida and Intermédica group was completed in the beginning of 2022 and just some months later, SulAmérica, their competitor in the insurance segment, was bought by Rede D’Or.

Figure 1. Main events and players in the consolidation process of the health care market in Brazil. Horizontal lines represent the different segments: hospitals, diagnostic companies, health insurance, and medical education. Vertical silos represent the verticalization process by the biggest leading institutions (bigger circles in darker shades of blue): DASA, Hapvida/Intermédica group, Rede D’Or, Fleury-Hermes Pardini. Smaller circles in darker shades of blue represent other smaller-sized important players, also involved in acquisitions, innovation, and establishment of partnerships. Full lines imply integration mostly through acquisitions and segmented lines integration through partnerships (non excludent).

Another segment that is part of the verticalization in health care is medical education. In itself, a lucrative business. Apparently, the bigger the better is not only good to make hospitals, diagnostic, and insurance companies more profitable, but also applies to private education. Inspirali, the health arm of the group Ânima, was acquired by DASA, Yduqs by Hapvida-Intermédica.

Other relevant examples as provided in Figure 1: Oncoclínicas, a divestee from Fir Capital6 and the hospital Mater Dei, both are among the five biggest hospital groups.7 In addition, the figure shows two other diagnostic laboratories, Sabin and Alliar. It is worthy to note that both genomics and oncology are areas of intense competition among the leading consolidators (Figure 1). These are also drivers for joint ventures.

In partnership with the Albert Einstein Hospital, Fleury is creating a new genomics company, to be called Genesis. The goal is to group the initiatives of both institutions (Fleury and Albert Einstein Hospital) into one genomics company. In oncology, Fleury is establishing a partnership for a new company with the hospital Beneficiência Portuguesa and the insurance company Bradesco Seguros (which is one of Fleury’s major shareholders). The group Oncoclínicas, specialized in oncology, established partnerships with different Unimeds (which are medical cooperatives that offer insurances).

In terms of therapeutic priority, oncology is the focus for the institutions represented in Figure 1. Only time will tell how these integrated health systems will conciliate prioritizing a preventative approach to care with the fact that most of their revenues will probably come from treating cancer patients in their own hospitals.

Genomics is an extremely important business for all the diagnostic companies and hospitals as it is an expanding market. It currently represents 1% of the total market of diagnostic tests, estimated at R$25 B in 2022. By considering that in the United States this percentage is 10–20% of the total tests, the assumption is that the opportunity for growth is ripe. In fact, both Fleury and DASA have reported a two-digit consistent annual growth rate since 2017.8

Super-sizing may lead to more profits, but the stake holders promise that it will also provide better and less expensive care for the patient. By prioritizing prevention and integrating data from genomics and digital platforms, the service- provider will command tools to offer a holistic and more personalized care for the patient. In other words, make a better journey for the patient while keeping health care more sustainable. This sounds excellent and is repeated almost like a mantra by many. But is it possible? According to some of our interviewees,9 there is room for optimism.

For example, DASA’s digital platform, NAV, which has had 23 million users in one year, tracks exams, supports interoperability (one can import exams from a different service provider), and informs doctors if some action is needed. The average time from diagnostic to treatment of breast cancer patients was reduced from 60–90 days (the national average of the private sector) to 12–13 days.10

To scale up efficiently, the support of digital technologies and several layers of artificial intelligence are crucial, and this is where the startups and innovation hubs come in.

Innovation hubs and startups

It is difficult to keep track of all that is going on in the Brazilian health market, but there are initiatives doing a good job at collecting and gathering information.11 Distrito is one of them. It manages innovation hubs and the latest created for healthtechs is inside Hospital das Clínicas at USP University, InovaHC. Their HealthTech Report points to more than a thousand startups in the country.12 A number also published by a study made by Sling hub for Valor Econômico.13

According to ABStartups and Delloite Brasil, 45% of the heathtechs were founded in the years of 2019–2021 and only 14% have not received investment.14 In 2021, USD 530 million were invested in these startups, an increase of 402% relative to 2020.15  

Table 1 shows some innovation hubs dedicated to health care technologies created in the past few years.

Table 1. Most innovation hubs are accelerators, and some have their own investment funds. They provide connections with investors, mentors, and international hubs. Corporate venture is also on the rise. The laboratory Sabin (shown in Figure 1) launched Skyhub, its accelerator/incubator and a venture capital fund, Kortex, in partnership with Fleury. DASA, Fleury, Rede D’Or have their corporate funds, so do the national pharmaceutical companies.

What kind of innovation is being developed by these healthtechs? Most technologies aim at management solutions, electronic health records, access, telemedicine, and marketplace.14,15 It all looks like the innovation ecosystem is serving health care systems for local service delivery. According to one of the interviewees: “We had a stage in which there was a disconnection between the solutions being offered by startups and the problems that had to be solved, this is no longer the case, there is a good virtuous cycle now, but it seems to me that everyone is doing a bit of the same.”

What about biotechnology?

Accelerators and programs have proliferated, so did international connections and venture builders. Startups have a stronger environment to flourish so they can enjoy several programs to accelerate the business. In addition, entrepreneurs can find specialized mentorship and will probably be able to find angel investors or seed capital.

As mentioned before, the health system in Brazil is highly fragmented and there is still plenty of room to create, expand, and make health care services more efficient. Nevertheless, a biomedical innovation ecosystem needs enterprises that are outputs of innovation, developers of proprietary technology. From our own research, of the institutions represented in Figure 1, only the Albert Einstein Hospital has had a significant number of patents filed in the last decade. The interviews show that a strategic approach to proprietary technology does not seem to be a priority. According to the report written by ABStartups and Delloite, only 16.9 % of all startups have patents.

What happens with the entrepreneurs that want to develop a novel solution for cancer care, for instance? Or to develop a new drug against Alzheimer’s disease? They will still have a very arid time, as they need the sort of investment that is either nonexistent or hard to come by. In addition, these projects are riskier and require more time to market, not the sort of thing most of the investors here have appetite for, especially, if they have other options. Nevertheless, despite the odds, more of these projects are being created.

We have some interesting examples: Scirama, a company dedicated to the therapeutics based on psychedelic substances; miRScience, which is developing microRNA-based therapies for metabolic like nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, muscle atrophy, and cancer; ImunoTera, developing a new immunotherapy for cancer; Celluris, dedicated to CAR-T cells; FUTR BIO, dedicated to a new generation of mRNA vaccines. The latter is an investee of Vesper Ventures, a venture builder initiative located in the State of Santa Catarina, south region of Brazil. Santa Catarina has a successful innovation ecosystem. Vesper Ventures launched a biotechnology-focused venture fund and already has a portfolio of companies.16

The Albert Einstein hospital in São Paulo is a protagonist in biomedical innovation in the country. Its new endeavor, the program to innovate in biotechnologies, will hopefully follow the success of its incubator/accelerator Eretz Bio. The new program aims at stimulating the creation of new businesses in drug discovery and novel treatments, and it is close to the hospital, the researchers, and clinical trials.

Figure 2. Kenneth Gollob, PhD, and his team at the Albert Einstein Hospital’s new teaching building.

The extraordinary new building that hosts the program is a teaching, research, and innovation building, home to medical students, laboratories, and clean rooms for cell and gene therapies. The director of the Center for Research in Immuno-oncology (CRIO), Kenneth Gollob, Phd, recently moved to Einstein with his research team from the A.C. Camargo Cancer Center. With a grant of more than R$ 20 million, CRIO was formed via the FAPESP Centers for Research in Engineering (CPE) program in partnership with the pharmaceutical company GSK, he is extremely happy with the new home, the funding, and the future to come. Who wouldn’t be?

Denise Golgher, PhD (d.golgher@gmail.com), and Robert Rodrigues are lawyers with the Licks Attorneys firm.

References:

1. https://bioengineeringcommunity.nature.com/posts/40607-breaking-through-asphalt, access on 26.09.2022.

2. Interview with DASA executive. According to Valor Econômico, there are 1.86 thousand private hospitals, 697 health insurance companies and thousands of laboratories spread throughout the country https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2022/06/30/movimento-acelerado-rumo-as-compras.ghtml

3. https://valor.globo.com/publicacoes/suplementos/noticia/2022/05/31/mercado-em-ebulicao.ghtml, access on 26.09.2022.

4. https://valor.globo.com/publicacoes/suplementos/noticia/2022/04/07/hora-da-integracao.ghtml, access on 26.09.2022.

5. Pending approval by CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica). https://valor.globo.com/empresas/noticia/2022/06/30/fleury-e- pardini-companhia-combinada-tm-receita-de-r-61-bilhes-prximo-da-lder-do-setor.ghtml, access on 26.09.2022

6. Fir Capital http://www.fircapital.com/

7. https://valor.globo.com/publicacoes/suplementos/noticia/2022/05/31/mercado-em-ebulicao.ghtml, access on 26.09.2022.

8. Fleury investor’s day 2021, available at https://ri.fleury.com.br/ and personal communication.

9. Our many thanks to Luiz Fernando Reis (Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Kenneth Gollob (Albert Einstein Hospital), José Eduardo Levi, Sérgio Ricardo Santos and Heron Werner (DASA), Gustavo Araújo (Distrito), Cristiano Leite de Castro (UFMG), Valéria Matarelli (Hermes Pardini), Kátia Torres (Linhagen), Paulo Lacativa (Biozeus), David Schlesinger (Mendelics), Miguel Mitne-Neto (Fleury), Mauro Teixeira (UFMG) and Lia Kubelka (Biogenetika).

10. https://oglobo.globo.com/economia/negocios/noticia/2022/07/nao-dependemos-de-ter-uma-operadora-de-planos-de-saude-afirma-pedro- bueno-ceo-da-dasa-dona-de-alta-e-sergio-franco. ghtml, access on 26.09.2022.

11. https://abstartups.com.br/, https://slinghub.io/, https://liga.ventures/, https://distrito.me/

12. Inside HealthTech Report, Retrospectiva 2021 e Tendências 2022, available at https://materiais.distrito.me/mr/materiais-ricos-gratuitos.

13. https://valor.globo.com/publicacoes/suplementos/noticia/2022/05/31/startup-que-monitora-o-paciente-atrai-investidor.ghtml, access on 26.09.2022.

14. Mapeamento do ecossistema brasileiro de startups, 2021. ABStartups and Delloite.

15. Inside HealthTech Report, Retrospectiva 2021 e Tendências 2022, available at https://materiais.distrito.me/mr/materiais-ricos-gratuitos.

16. https://vesper-ventures.com/portfolio/

https://revistapegn.globo.com/Startups/noticia/2022/05/vesper-ventures-lanca-fundo-de-investimento-focado-em-startups-de- biotecnologia.html, access on 26.09.2022.

The post Update on Biomed Innovation in Brazil appeared first on GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

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Red Candle In The Wind

Red Candle In The Wind

By Benjamin PIcton of Rabobank

February non-farm payrolls superficially exceeded market expectations on Friday by…

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Red Candle In The Wind

By Benjamin PIcton of Rabobank

February non-farm payrolls superficially exceeded market expectations on Friday by printing at 275,000 against a consensus call of 200,000. We say superficially, because the downward revisions to prior months totalled 167,000 for December and January, taking the total change in employed persons well below the implied forecast, and helping the unemployment rate to pop two-ticks to 3.9%. The U6 underemployment rate also rose from 7.2% to 7.3%, while average hourly earnings growth fell to 0.2% m-o-m and average weekly hours worked languished at 34.3, equalling pre-pandemic lows.

Undeterred by the devil in the detail, the algos sprang into action once exchanges opened. Market darling NVIDIA hit a new intraday high of $974 before (presumably) the humans took over and sold the stock down more than 10% to close at $875.28. If our suspicions are correct that it was the AIs buying before the humans started selling (no doubt triggering trailing stops on the way down), the irony is not lost on us.

The 1-day chart for NVIDIA now makes for interesting viewing, because the red candle posted on Friday presents quite a strong bearish engulfing signal. Volume traded on the day was almost double the 15-day simple moving average, and similar price action is observable on the 1-day charts for both Intel and AMD. Regular readers will be aware that we have expressed incredulity in the past about the durability the AI thematic melt-up, so it will be interesting to see whether Friday’s sell off is just a profit-taking blip, or a genuine trend reversal.

AI equities aside, this week ought to be important for markets because the BTFP program expires today. That means that the Fed will no longer be loaning cash to the banking system in exchange for collateral pledged at-par. The KBW Regional Banking index has so far taken this in its stride and is trading 30% above the lows established during the mini banking crisis of this time last year, but the Fed’s liquidity facility was effectively an exercise in can-kicking that makes regional banks a sector of the market worth paying attention to in the weeks ahead. Even here in Sydney, regulators are warning of external risks posed to the banking sector from scheduled refinancing of commercial real estate loans following sharp falls in valuations.

Markets are sending signals in other sectors, too. Gold closed at a new record-high of $2178/oz on Friday after trading above $2200/oz briefly. Gold has been going ballistic since the Friday before last, posting gains even on days where 2-year Treasury yields have risen. Gold bugs are buying as real yields fall from the October highs and inflation breakevens creep higher. This is particularly interesting as gold ETFs have been recording net outflows; suggesting that price gains aren’t being driven by a retail pile-in. Are gold buyers now betting on a stagflationary outcome where the Fed cuts without inflation being anchored at the 2% target? The price action around the US CPI release tomorrow ought to be illuminating.

Leaving the day-to-day movements to one side, we are also seeing further signs of structural change at the macro level. The UK budget last week included a provision for the creation of a British ISA. That is, an Individual Savings Account that provides tax breaks to savers who invest their money in the stock of British companies. This follows moves last year to encourage pension funds to head up the risk curve by allocating 5% of their capital to unlisted investments.

As a Hail Mary option for a government cruising toward an electoral drubbing it’s a curious choice, but it’s worth highlighting as cash-strapped governments increasingly see private savings pools as a funding solution for their spending priorities.

Of course, the UK is not alone in making creeping moves towards financial repression. In contrast to announcements today of increased trade liberalisation, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has in the recent past flagged his interest in tapping private pension savings to fund state spending priorities, including defence, public housing and renewable energy projects. Both the UK and Australia appear intent on finding ways to open up the lungs of their economies, but government wants more say in directing private capital flows for state goals.

So, how far is the blurring of the lines between free markets and state planning likely to go? Given the immense and varied budgetary (and security) pressures that governments are facing, could we see a re-up of WWII-era Victory bonds, where private investors are encouraged to do their patriotic duty by directly financing government at negative real rates?

That would really light a fire under the gold market.

Tyler Durden Mon, 03/11/2024 - 19:00

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Trump “Clearly Hasn’t Learned From His COVID-Era Mistakes”, RFK Jr. Says

Trump "Clearly Hasn’t Learned From His COVID-Era Mistakes", RFK Jr. Says

Authored by Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President…

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Trump "Clearly Hasn't Learned From His COVID-Era Mistakes", RFK Jr. Says

Authored by Jeff Louderback via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President Joe Biden claimed that COVID vaccines are now helping cancer patients during his State of the Union address on March 7, but it was a response on Truth Social from former President Donald Trump that drew the ire of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. holds a voter rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Feb. 10, 2024. (Mitch Ranger for The Epoch Times)

During the address, President Biden said: “The pandemic no longer controls our lives. The vaccines that saved us from COVID are now being used to help beat cancer, turning setback into comeback. That’s what America does.”

President Trump wrote: “The Pandemic no longer controls our lives. The VACCINES that saved us from COVID are now being used to help beat cancer—turning setback into comeback. YOU’RE WELCOME JOE. NINE-MONTH APPROVAL TIME VS. 12 YEARS THAT IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN YOU.”

An outspoken critic of President Trump’s COVID response, and the Operation Warp Speed program that escalated the availability of COVID vaccines, Mr. Kennedy said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that “Donald Trump clearly hasn’t learned from his COVID-era mistakes.”

“He fails to recognize how ineffective his warp speed vaccine is as the ninth shot is being recommended to seniors. Even more troubling is the documented harm being caused by the shot to so many innocent children and adults who are suffering myocarditis, pericarditis, and brain inflammation,” Mr. Kennedy remarked.

“This has been confirmed by a CDC-funded study of 99 million people. Instead of bragging about its speedy approval, we should be honestly and transparently debating the abundant evidence that this vaccine may have caused more harm than good.

“I look forward to debating both Trump and Biden on Sept. 16 in San Marcos, Texas.”

Mr. Kennedy announced in April 2023 that he would challenge President Biden for the 2024 Democratic Party presidential nomination before declaring his run as an independent last October, claiming that the Democrat National Committee was “rigging the primary.”

Since the early stages of his campaign, Mr. Kennedy has generated more support than pundits expected from conservatives, moderates, and independents resulting in speculation that he could take votes away from President Trump.

Many Republicans continue to seek a reckoning over the government-imposed pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates.

President Trump’s defense of Operation Warp Speed, the program he rolled out in May 2020 to spur the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines amid the pandemic, remains a sticking point for some of his supporters.

Vice President Mike Pence (L) and President Donald Trump deliver an update on Operation Warp Speed in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Nov. 13, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Operation Warp Speed featured a partnership between the government, the military, and the private sector, with the government paying for millions of vaccine doses to be produced.

President Trump released a statement in March 2021 saying: “I hope everyone remembers when they’re getting the COVID-19 Vaccine, that if I wasn’t President, you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful ‘shot’ for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it at all. I hope everyone remembers!”

President Trump said about the COVID-19 vaccine in an interview on Fox News in March 2021: “It works incredibly well. Ninety-five percent, maybe even more than that. I would recommend it, and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly.

“But again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also. But it’s a great vaccine, it’s a safe vaccine, and it’s something that works.”

On many occasions, President Trump has said that he is not in favor of vaccine mandates.

An environmental attorney, Mr. Kennedy founded Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that aims to end childhood health epidemics by promoting vaccine safeguards, among other initiatives.

Last year, Mr. Kennedy told podcaster Joe Rogan that ivermectin was suppressed by the FDA so that the COVID-19 vaccines could be granted emergency use authorization.

He has criticized Big Pharma, vaccine safety, and government mandates for years.

Since launching his presidential campaign, Mr. Kennedy has made his stances on the COVID-19 vaccines, and vaccines in general, a frequent talking point.

“I would argue that the science is very clear right now that they [vaccines] caused a lot more problems than they averted,” Mr. Kennedy said on Piers Morgan Uncensored last April.

“And if you look at the countries that did not vaccinate, they had the lowest death rates, they had the lowest COVID and infection rates.”

Additional data show a “direct correlation” between excess deaths and high vaccination rates in developed countries, he said.

President Trump and Mr. Kennedy have similar views on topics like protecting the U.S.-Mexico border and ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

COVID-19 is the topic where Mr. Kennedy and President Trump seem to differ the most.

Former President Donald Trump intended to “drain the swamp” when he took office in 2017, but he was “intimidated by bureaucrats” at federal agencies and did not accomplish that objective, Mr. Kennedy said on Feb. 5.

Speaking at a voter rally in Tucson, where he collected signatures to get on the Arizona ballot, the independent presidential candidate said President Trump was “earnest” when he vowed to “drain the swamp,” but it was “business as usual” during his term.

John Bolton, who President Trump appointed as a national security adviser, is “the template for a swamp creature,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Scott Gottlieb, who President Trump named to run the FDA, “was Pfizer’s business partner” and eventually returned to Pfizer, Mr. Kennedy said.

Mr. Kennedy said that President Trump had more lobbyists running federal agencies than any president in U.S. history.

“You can’t reform them when you’ve got the swamp creatures running them, and I’m not going to do that. I’m going to do something different,” Mr. Kennedy said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump “did not ask the questions that he should have,” he believes.

President Trump “knew that lockdowns were wrong” and then “agreed to lockdowns,” Mr. Kennedy said.

He also “knew that hydroxychloroquine worked, he said it,” Mr. Kennedy explained, adding that he was eventually “rolled over” by Dr. Anthony Fauci and his advisers.

President Donald Trump greets the crowd before he leaves at the Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit in Washington on Dec. 8, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

MaryJo Perry, a longtime advocate for vaccine choice and a Trump supporter, thinks votes will be at a premium come Election Day, particularly because the independent and third-party field is becoming more competitive.

Ms. Perry, president of Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights, believes advocates for medical freedom could determine who is ultimately president.

She believes that Mr. Kennedy is “pulling votes from Trump” because of the former president’s stance on the vaccines.

“People care about medical freedom. It’s an important issue here in Mississippi, and across the country,” Ms. Perry told The Epoch Times.

“Trump should admit he was wrong about Operation Warp Speed and that COVID vaccines have been dangerous. That would make a difference among people he has offended.”

President Trump won’t lose enough votes to Mr. Kennedy about Operation Warp Speed and COVID vaccines to have a significant impact on the election, Ohio Republican strategist Wes Farno told The Epoch Times.

President Trump won in Ohio by eight percentage points in both 2016 and 2020. The Ohio Republican Party endorsed President Trump for the nomination in 2024.

“The positives of a Trump presidency far outweigh the negatives,” Mr. Farno said. “People are more concerned about their wallet and the economy.

“They are asking themselves if they were better off during President Trump’s term compared to since President Biden took office. The answer to that question is obvious because many Americans are struggling to afford groceries, gas, mortgages, and rent payments.

“America needs President Trump.”

Multiple national polls back Mr. Farno’s view.

As of March 6, the RealClearPolitics average of polls indicates that President Trump has 41.8 percent support in a five-way race that includes President Biden (38.4 percent), Mr. Kennedy (12.7 percent), independent Cornel West (2.6 percent), and Green Party nominee Jill Stein (1.7 percent).

A Pew Research Center study conducted among 10,133 U.S. adults from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11 showed that Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents (42 percent) are more likely than Republicans and GOP-leaning independents (15 percent) to say they have received an updated COVID vaccine.

The poll also reported that just 28 percent of adults say they have received the updated COVID inoculation.

The peer-reviewed multinational study of more than 99 million vaccinated people that Mr. Kennedy referenced in his X post on March 7 was published in the Vaccine journal on Feb. 12.

It aimed to evaluate the risk of 13 adverse events of special interest (AESI) following COVID-19 vaccination. The AESIs spanned three categories—neurological, hematologic (blood), and cardiovascular.

The study reviewed data collected from more than 99 million vaccinated people from eight nations—Argentina, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand, and Scotland—looking at risks up to 42 days after getting the shots.

Three vaccines—Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines as well as AstraZeneca’s viral vector jab—were examined in the study.

Researchers found higher-than-expected cases that they deemed met the threshold to be potential safety signals for multiple AESIs, including for Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), myocarditis, and pericarditis.

A safety signal refers to information that could suggest a potential risk or harm that may be associated with a medical product.

The study identified higher incidences of neurological, cardiovascular, and blood disorder complications than what the researchers expected.

President Trump’s role in Operation Warp Speed, and his continued praise of the COVID vaccine, remains a concern for some voters, including those who still support him.

Krista Cobb is a 40-year-old mother in western Ohio. She voted for President Trump in 2020 and said she would cast her vote for him this November, but she was stunned when she saw his response to President Biden about the COVID-19 vaccine during the State of the Union address.

I love President Trump and support his policies, but at this point, he has to know they [advisers and health officials] lied about the shot,” Ms. Cobb told The Epoch Times.

“If he continues to promote it, especially after all of the hearings they’ve had about it in Congress, the side effects, and cover-ups on Capitol Hill, at what point does he become the same as the people who have lied?” Ms. Cobb added.

“I think he should distance himself from talk about Operation Warp Speed and even admit that he was wrong—that the vaccines have not had the impact he was told they would have. If he did that, people would respect him even more.”

Tyler Durden Mon, 03/11/2024 - 17:00

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There will soon be one million seats on this popular Amtrak route

“More people are taking the train than ever before,” says Amtrak’s Executive Vice President.

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While the size of the United States makes it hard for it to compete with the inter-city train access available in places like Japan and many European countries, Amtrak trains are a very popular transportation option in certain pockets of the country — so much so that the country’s national railway company is expanding its Northeast Corridor by more than one million seats.

Related: This is what it's like to take a 19-hour train from New York to Chicago

Running from Boston all the way south to Washington, D.C., the route is one of the most popular as it passes through the most densely populated part of the country and serves as a commuter train for those who need to go between East Coast cities such as New York and Philadelphia for business.

Veronika Bondarenko captured this photo of New York’s Moynihan Train Hall. 

Veronika Bondarenko

Amtrak launches new routes, promises travelers ‘additional travel options’

Earlier this month, Amtrak announced that it was adding four additional Northeastern routes to its schedule — two more routes between New York’s Penn Station and Union Station in Washington, D.C. on the weekend, a new early-morning weekday route between New York and Philadelphia’s William H. Gray III 30th Street Station and a weekend route between Philadelphia and Boston’s South Station.

More Travel:

According to Amtrak, these additions will increase Northeast Corridor’s service by 20% on the weekdays and 10% on the weekends for a total of one million additional seats when counted by how many will ride the corridor over the year.

“More people are taking the train than ever before and we’re proud to offer our customers additional travel options when they ride with us on the Northeast Regional,” Amtrak Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Eliot Hamlisch said in a statement on the new routes. “The Northeast Regional gets you where you want to go comfortably, conveniently and sustainably as you breeze past traffic on I-95 for a more enjoyable travel experience.”

Here are some of the other Amtrak changes you can expect to see

Amtrak also said that, in the 2023 financial year, the Northeast Corridor had nearly 9.2 million riders — 8% more than it had pre-pandemic and a 29% increase from 2022. The higher demand, particularly during both off-peak hours and the time when many business travelers use to get to work, is pushing Amtrak to invest into this corridor in particular.

To reach more customers, Amtrak has also made several changes to both its routes and pricing system. In the fall of 2023, it introduced a type of new “Night Owl Fare” — if traveling during very late or very early hours, one can go between cities like New York and Philadelphia or Philadelphia and Washington. D.C. for $5 to $15.

As travel on the same routes during peak hours can reach as much as $300, this was a deliberate move to reach those who have the flexibility of time and might have otherwise preferred more affordable methods of transportation such as the bus. After seeing strong uptake, Amtrak added this type of fare to more Boston routes.

The largest distances, such as the ones between Boston and New York or New York and Washington, are available at the lowest rate for $20.

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