Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shares of beleaguered drugmaker Sarepta Therapeutics jumped in afterhours trading Monday after the company said it would resume shipping its gene therapy for some patients, following a brief pause requested by regulators. The Food and Drug Administration said it recommended lifting the hold for young patients with Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy who are still able to walk. Regulators had requested the pause after the deaths of two older teenagers who were taking the therapy. The FDA also said in a statement it determined that a recently reported death of an 8-year-old boy was unrelated to the therapy. Company…

CVS Health topped Wall Street expectations for the second quarter and hiked its full-year forecast again, as the health care giant continued to rally under new management from a forgettable 2024. The company said Thursday it now expects adjusted 2025 earnings to range between $6.30 and $6.40 this year after hiking the forecast to a range of up to $6.20 per share in May. Analysts have forecast annual forecast earnings of $6.12 per share, according to the data firm FactSet. In the second quarter, CVS Health reported adjusted earnings of $1.81 per share as revenue grew 8% to $98.9 billion.…

Melissa Shaw.Courtesy of Melissa Shaw Melissa Shaw became her mother’s primary caregiver after a sudden terminal cancer diagnosis. Shaw, a financial advisor, learned crucial lessons about end-of-life planning and caregiving. Her biggest lessons include the importance of Medigap, healthcare proxies, and life insurance. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Melissa Shaw, a 46-year-old financial advisor in Palo Alto, California. It has been edited for length and clarity. I’ve been a financial advisor since 2011 and have worked at Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America, or TIAA, as a wealth management advisor for over seven years. I…

President Donald Trump at an event in New York in 2016. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images) The Coca-Cola Co. said Tuesday that it will launch a version of its signature drink made with American cane sugar. The announcement comes days after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he had “been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so.” Initially, Coca-Cola did not confirm the news. The company told NBC News last week that it appreciated Trump’s “enthusiasm for our iconic Coca-Cola brand” but…

Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company behind GLP-1 injection Zepbound, is working to bring its weight loss drug to the market in pill form. In an Aug. 7 earnings call, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told investors that the company plans to submit the drug, orforglipron, to the FDA for approval by the end of the year. Dan Skovronsky, chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Immunology, said that the company was “very pleased” with the safety and efficacy of orforglipron as seen in trials so far. Unlike injectable obesity drugs, which are peptides designed to mimic the appetite-controlling GLP-1 hormone,…

By Deena Beasley (Reuters) -CVS Health, which runs the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit manager, will not add Gilead Sciences’ new HIV prevention drug to its commercial plans for now, a spokesperson told Reuters, despite the medicine’s proven effectiveness. CVS based the decision on clinical, financial, and regulatory factors, spokesperson David Whitrap said in an email. It also will not cover Yeztugo under its Affordable Care Act formularies, since its ACA preventive program follows recommendations and mandates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Whitrap said. Current HIV prevention recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF),…

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. technology shares are showing signs of vulnerability after a massive run, which has some investors pointing to overdone AI-driven gains while funds have taken steps to position away from the high-flying sector. Investors are looking to de-risk portfolios or lock in profits during a seasonally difficult period for stocks. Friday’s looming speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the annual Jackson Hole symposium is creating caution, investors said, with the potential for volatility if his comments fail to meet growing market expectations that the central bank is poised to cut interest rates.…

By Anton Bridge and Mariko Katsumura TOKYO (Reuters) -Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami, one of Japan’s best-known business leaders, has resigned from the beverage group following a police investigation into his purchase of a supplement that may have breached the country’s strict drug laws. Niinami, who has served as an adviser to several Japanese prime ministers and was often the face of corporate Japan at Davos and other international events, told Suntory he purchased the supplement believing it was legal, the company said on Tuesday. “I was not aware that it was an illegal supplement. I am innocent,” he told…

How Wall Street gyms compareThibaud MORITZ / AFP JPMorgan is opening a new HQ featuring a sleek gym; monthly costs are unknown. It’s not the only firm with a sweet space where Wall Streeters can work up a sweat. We took a look at five Wall Street gyms, from Goldman to Citigroup. JPMorgan’s new 270 Park Avenue headquarters, opening this year, includes a wellness hub with medical clinics, meditation rooms, and a fitness center run by a company known for training professional athletes. One detail has already stirred grumbling: Employees will have to pay for gym access. The move highlights…

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy, said Wednesday it would cut 9,000 jobs, 5,000 of them in Denmark, in order to strengthen the company’s focus on growth opportunities in obesity and diabetes medications. The restructuring, which would eliminate 11% of the company’s workforce, aimed to reduce organizational complexity and speed up decision-making as the company faces a more competitive market for obesity drugs. The streamlining would save 8 billion Danish krone ($1.25 billion) by the end of 2026, savings that are to be redirected to diabetes and obesity, including research and development,…