Category: Business

A study led by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE evaluating their Covid-19 vaccine in expectant mothers has been complicated by slow enrollment, researchers say, delaying results that could help inform physicians about how the shots affect pregnant women and their babies. Pfizer closed enrollment at many U.S. sites this summer, after fewer than expected numbers of subjects entered the study, researchers say. The slow enrollment was driven by revised guidelines from government and physician groups that recommend pregnant women receive the shots based on new real-world research, according to trial-site researchers. They also say...

Credit data generated by Ant Group Co.’s popular consumer lending service will be fully integrated into a government credit-reporting system, a significant step in a continuing effort to bring the financial-technology giant into line with Chinese regulators’ priorities. Ant’s service Huabei, which means “just spend” in Mandarin and functions like a virtual credit card, said in a social media post Wednesday that “is advancing with its orderly inclusion into the financial credit information database held by the Credit Reference Center of the PBOC,” referring to the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank....

SAN JOSE, Calif.—An Arizona medical assistant testified Tuesday at the criminal trial of Elizabeth Holmes that she received two Theranos Inc. blood tests indicating she was miscarrying when she was in fact pregnant—results that her medical provider testified were unlike any she has ever seen in eight years of practice in women’s health. After the erratic results that patient Brittany Gould received on the key pregnancy marker in October 2014, nurse practitioner Audra Zachman testified, “I felt very uncertain of the validity of the results and felt uncomfortable as a provider” sending more patients...

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department on Tuesday filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging American Airlines Group Inc.’s partnership with JetBlue Airways Corp. , alleging the recently forged alliance will suppress competition and lead to higher fares. The department, joined by six states and the District of Columbia, filed the lawsuit in a Massachusetts federal court. They alleged the American-JetBlue agreement will eliminate head-to-head competition in key traffic hubs in the Northeast and hurt travelers across the country by diminishing JetBlue’s incentives to compete with American. That could mean higher prices, fewer options and poorer customer service, the...

Apple Inc. is working on technology to help diagnose depression and cognitive decline, aiming for tools that could expand the scope of its burgeoning health portfolio, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Using an array of sensor data that includes mobility, physical activity, sleep patterns, typing behavior and more, researchers hope they can tease out digital signals associated with the target conditions so that algorithms can be created to detect them reliably, the people said. Apple hopes that would become the basis for unique features...

Johnson & Johnson said a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine administered two months after the first shot increased protection against symptomatic illness in trial participants, as federal regulators evaluate data for the country’s strategy for rolling out boosters. Data released Tuesday from a late-stage clinical trial showed that study participants in 10 countries including the U.S. who received a second dose of the company’s vaccine two months after the first had 75% protection against symptomatic Covid-19. Participants in the U.S. had 94% protection against the illness. J&J didn’t explain the reason for the...

Federal securities regulators have launched a wide-ranging investigation into Activision Blizzard Inc., including how the videogame-publishing giant handled employees’ allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace discrimination, according to people familiar with the investigation and documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed Activision, known for its Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush franchises, and several of its senior executives, including longtime Chief Executive Bobby Kotick, according to the people and documents. Source link

WASHINGTON—Democratic leaders said Monday they would attach a suspension of the debt limit through December 2022 to a short-term spending bill, setting up a clash with Republicans over preventing both a partial government shutdown and a potential default on U.S. debt. The House is expected to vote on the combined measure this week, but GOP opposition in the Senate cast uncertainty over how and when lawmakers will act to prevent the federal government from running out of cash. Many Republicans said Monday they wouldn’t supply any votes for an effort to raise the government’s...

Some big oil companies say they want to play a key role in reducing carbon emissions, but they are set to be sidelined at the coming United Nations climate conference.Retailers, tech companies and consumer products makers have all been named as “principal partners” for COP26 in Glasgow—allowing them greater involvement with the event—but major oil companies like BP BP -2.46% PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC will have a lower profile. That is because the oil industry has yet to agree on science-based plans for how it will reduce carbon emissions, a hurdle U.K....

An increasing number of companies are tying the interest rates on their corporate loans to environmental and other sustainability targets as they face pressure from investors and regulators to go green.Sustainability-linked loans carry interest rates that adjust based on whether a company meets a predetermined environmental, social or governance goal, such as reducing carbon emissions. U.S. companies took out $83.8 billion in such loans through Sep. 16, up from $2.5 billion during the same period in 2020, according to Dealogic, a data provider. U.S. corporate loan volume, including sustainability-linked loans, was $1.7 trillion as...