Secure Websites
A few years ago Google started strongly suggesting that companies secure their websites. Slowly, the companies in our directory are getting the message and switching from http to https. We check every website for any URL changes each month. Here is the current breakdown of secure vs. insecure websites:
Worldwide
Company Home Pages: 8787
https: 5985 (68%)
http: 2802
US-headquartered companies
Company Home Pages: 5604
https: 3917 (70%)
http: 1687
US companies are a little better than the rest of the world, but 30% of companies still don't get it.
Shameless Plug
One of the BioPharmKids is doing a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. If you or someone you know has been affected by heart disease, consider making a donation to help her earn some sort of stuffed animal trinket:
http://www2.heart.org/goto/biopharmkid
Bonus - you can opt to not have your contact details shared with the AHA so they can't pester you. Think of this as donation-laundering to avoid all the junk mail.
-AW
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23andMe
Maybe it could be the raft of stories of people finding out their parents weren't really their parents?
Or perhaps the fine print allowing these companies to
share/use
your genetic information?
Or maybe that the market is severely limited since everyone only needs to do it ONE time?
Let's look at that last point as it relates to the domestic US market. As of 2019 an estimated 26 million Americans had
undergone these tests
. If a reasonable total market is 10% of American adults, that leaves 22 million customers remaining. After this backlog is cleared, it would drop to the 10% of the 4-5 million Americans per year who become adults. So at $100 per test, $40 million in domestic revenue is theoretically available to split amongst several players. Surely they have add-ons and things to boost revenue, but it seems like just another business model being valued/esteemed/priced as a tech company when they're just service providers racing to the bottom on price. Food delivery, taxis....when will this kind of thing end?
Answer: Never
Revolution Medicines
Revolution is going public today. They were founded long ago in 2015,
took on assets
from Warp Drive Bio in 2018 and have received $232M in Venture Capital funding already. IPO is set to be
$238M
valuing the company at a magical *ONE BILLION DOLLARS".
Must be pretty close to a drug approval, eh? Nope, only in Phase 1 (safety testing) on their lead product.
Must be targeting a high-success indication, right? Nope - oncology, with its 3.4%
success rate
As a thought exercise, let's presume the company's $1B valuation is solely tied up in the lead molecule. Since it's an oncology indication, let's presume it has a 3.4% chance of success. Together this imputes a value of $29B on this drug if approved. A gross oversimplification, yes, but that was still pretty funny to type - $29 Billion.
But WAIT, there's more! They entered into a
deal with Sanofi
for a 50/50 profit and loss-sharing deal on products targeting SHP2 which, you guessed it, the lead product does. So now the grossly oversimplified imputed value of this drug is $58 Billion!
#NotMyMoney
Lab Space Crunch
Which is higher, the
lab vacancy rate
in East Cambridge, or Bluto's GPA in Animal House?
Trick question, they're both
0.0
Algenex
This company is using
moth pupae
to produce recombinant proteins.
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COVID-19 (Wuhan Coronavirus)
The virus now has an official name:
COVID-19
The 34 yr old whistle blower doctor who was initially reprimanded for spreading false rumors has
passed away
inspiring many home bound Chinese to comment freely online.
Some charts of new infections were showing a drop, but there is a question of whether that is simply due to a lack of testing capacity. Hubei province previously only counted cases if the virus was positively identified, but
changed their method yesterday
to also include patients who had been diagnosed via CT scan showing lung infections. This sent the numbers skyrocketing for diagnoses as well as deaths. For now, any reported numbers you see should be taken with a grain of salt.
The cruise ship
situation
is looking dire aboard the Diamond Princess off the coast of Japan. Total count of confirmed infections has jumped to 218. Cruise ships are already notorious for passing around infections due to the close quarters and constant intermixing of staff and guests, so keeping people on board was in effect sentencing them to infection. Thankfully, according to Princess, some guests will soon have the option to complete their
quarantine on-shore
at a temporary housing facility. This will at first apply only to the most frail, so our hearts go out to the healthy people who have no end in sight to their quarantine.
According to The
Economist
, people in Wuhan showing mild symptoms are being turned away from hospitals and sent to hotels which the government has taken control over. Even if symptoms further worsen, they may be simply sent home since hospitals are operating at capacity. China has many good doctors, but the WHO says 50% do not hold a bachelor's degree which may be a little unsettling to hear if you're from a developed nation.
As for economic impacts, remote work may be given a
permanent boost
in China and 2/3 of small businesses in China may be in
existential
trouble.
Universities around the world, many who have come to rely on Chinese students, are starting to discuss what COVID could mean in the near term. (No good links because they're all behind paywalls.)
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