Raphael Stevens

Despite high expectations, Biogen has reported only a fraction of estimated sales for its historic Alzheimer’s treatment.
The FDA approved Aduhelm in June as the first Alzheimer’s drug to try and thwart cognitive decline.
The company now plans to slash Aduhelm’s controversial list price by roughly half in a bid to boost sales.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm in June was heralded as a historic triumph in the fight against a disease that kills thousands of Americans every year.
But the excitement around the first FDA-approved drug to target the underlying cause of the memory-robbing disease—not just its symptoms—has ebbed since then. The drugmaker reported just $300,000 in revenue from Aduhelm sales during the third quarter, a fraction of what Wall Street was expecting.

Physicians have been split over whether clinical trial data proves the monoclonal antibody actually slows cognitive decline. What’s more, Medicare is debating whether to cover seniors on the government-run insurance program for Alzheimer’s treatments, a decision that is crucial to their profit potential.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to issue a draft decision by mid-January, a spokesperson told CNBC.
Meanwhile, shares of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech have cratered roughly 40% since the beginning of June. Given Aduhelm’s lackluster debut, as well as generic competition for Biogen’s other drugs, the company now plans to cut $500 million in annual costs.
In December, it also said it would slash Aduhelm’s controversial $56,000 annual list price by about 50% in a bid to boost sales. The company anticipates 50,000 new patients could start Aduhelm in 2022 with insurance coverage and greater access to diagnostics and specialized centers.
“In terms of this new drug, we are keeping an open mind,” said Dick Novik, who retired from the broadcast business to help care for his wife, Eugenia Zukerman, following her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

“If only there were a way of being more certain in our minds that it works,” Novik told CNBC.
Why is Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug so controversial? Watch the video above to learn.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The most expensive state for car insurance is Michigan, with an average annual premium of $2,858.
Drivers in Hawaii pay the least on average, at $824 a year.
There are a variety of ways you can reduce what you pay to insure your car.

Prostock-Studio | iStock | Getty Images

Like many things right now, the cost of auto insurance is rising.
For 2022, the average national cost to insure a car is expected to jump 5% to $1,707 annually, up from $1,663 in 2021, according to Insurify.

“Our prediction for 2022 is on par with projected inflation rates, and factors in the continued elevation in reckless driving behaviors, which have become more frequent following the 2020 Covid lockdowns,” said Tanveen Vohra, Insurance Specialist at Insurify.
More from Personal Finance:10 things that will be more expensive in 2022Here’s why your tax refund could be smaller4 ways to lower your grocery bill as prices soar
Inflation is touching most aspects of American life, with everything from groceries to cars and gas jumping in cost. The latest data shows inflation rising at an annual 6.8% clip, far above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
Meanwhile, Americans drove 32% more miles in March, April and May of 2021 compared with the same months in 2020, when shutdowns early in the pandemic resulted in fewer cars on the road, according to Insurify’s research.
However, the fatality rate was 26% higher in spring 2021 than it was in 2019, pre-pandemic, “suggesting that reckless driving habits adopted during initial pandemic shelter-in-place orders have endured well beyond the onset of the pandemic,” the report says.

Of course, the exact amount you pay is based on a variety of factors, including your car’s make and model, your coverage choices, as well as things like your driving record and, sometimes, even your credit score.
Location also matters. The most expensive state for car insurance is Michigan, at an average of $2,858 a year, followed by New York and Rhode Island, both averaging $2,321 annually, according to Insurify.
The least expensive state is Hawaii, with an average yearly layout of $824. North Carolina ($924) and Maine and Vermont (both average $945) are right behind that.
Additionally, if you live in an urban area, you’ll pay more on average ($1,666 yearly) compared with drivers in rural spots ($1,472 a year). Also, a single prior traffic offense can push your premiums up by an average of 35%, the research shows.

There are ways to reduce what you pay, beyond dropping parts of your coverage or increasing your deductibles.
For instance, bundling — i.e., getting both auto and homeowners insurance from the same provider — can save you an average of 8% yearly, according to Insurify. Or, if you are a member of the military, you could save 2.2%. And if you take a driver safety training course as an older American, you could save as much as 15.2%.
“The best way to find a lower rate, however, is to shop around and get quotes from multiple insurers to find the one that gives you the best deal,” Vohra said.
Insurify analyzed more than 40 million auto insurance premiums in its database to produce its research.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Shaun Hendy and Siouxsie Wiles had filed separate claims with the Employment Relations Authority, against the vice chancellor of the University of Auckland.
They claimed that their employer had “responded inadequately or not at all to their health and safety concerns” amid harassment from members of the public.
According to a ruling dated Dec. 24, the Employment Relations Authority approved the pair’s requests to move their claims up to New Zealand’s Employment Court.

University of Auckland physics professor Shaun Hendy, whose work on Covid-19 scenario modelling has helped inform the New Zealand government’s response to the pandemic.
Phil Walter | Getty Images

Two of New Zealand’s top Covid-19 experts are taking legal action against their employer, the University of Auckland, over its response to the harassment the scientists have faced from the public amid the pandemic.
Shaun Hendy, a physics professor, and Siouxsie Wiles, an associate professor of medical science, filed separate claims with the Employment Relations Authority, against the vice chancellor of the University of Auckland.

Hendy and Wiles claimed their employer had “responded inadequately or not at all to their health and safety concerns” amid harassment from members of the public who “disliked or disapproved” of their commentary on the coronavirus.
According to a ruling dated Dec. 24, the Employment Relations Authority approved the pair’s requests to move their claims up to New Zealand’s Employment Court.
The ruling stated that Hendy and Wiles had “suffered vitriolic, unpleasant, and deeply personalised threats and harassment that has had a detrimental impact” on their physical safety and mental health. It also said the harassment they faced has not only continued but has been “getting worse and ‘more extreme’ in nature.”
Hendy’s work on Covid-19 scenario modeling has helped inform the New Zealand government’s response to the pandemic. Meanwhile, Wiles was named the ‘New Zealander of the Year’ in 2021 for her prominent role in explaining the science of the coronavirus pandemic to the public and media.
The scientists said they are “expected” to provide public commentary as part of their employment. However, this is something that the vice chancellor denied, though acknowledged that they are “entitled to do so.”

Hendy and Wiles started raising concerns about the harassment in April 2020. According to the ruling, they had suffered harassment via email, on social media and video sharing platforms, as well as in the form of in-person confrontations and threats of physical confrontations.
For example, the ruling detailed how Wiles had been the victim of “doxing,” where someone’s personal information is shared online. She had also received an “associated threat to physically confront her at her home.”
In addition, Hendy was physically confronted in his office on the university campus by someone who threatened to “see him soon.”
According to the ruling, Hendy, Wiles and another colleague were urged in a letter from the vice chancellor in August to keep their public commentary to a minimum. The letter also suggested that they take paid leave to enable them “to minimize any social media comments at present.”
However, the vice chancellor denies instructing the scientists to minimize their public commentary, claiming it “merely advised the applicants that doing so is an option they may want to consider.”
Hendy and Wiles aren’t the only Covid experts to have been the subject of harassment amid the pandemic.
Chief White House medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has talked about receiving death threats, which have required him to be protected by federal agents.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The U.S. reported a record number of new Covid cases on Monday, with over 1 million new infections.
A total of 1,082,549 new coronavirus cases were reported Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as the highly infectious omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country and beyond.
The U.S. also has the highest seven-day average of new cases in the world, according to Johns Hopkins rankings.

US Army Critical Care Nurse, Captain Edward Rauch Jr. (L), turns a Covid-19 patient on a ventilator at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan on December, 17, 2021.
Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images

The U.S. has reported a record single-day number of daily Covid cases, with more than 1 million new infections.
A total of 1,082,549 new coronavirus cases were reported Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, as the highly infectious omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country.

The new daily tally brings the total number of cases confirmed in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic to 56,189,547. In total, the virus has caused 827,748 deaths across the country.
The record single-day total may be due in part to delayed reporting from over the holiday weekend. A number of U.S. states did not report data on Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, and many do not report data on weekends, meaning that some of these cases could be from positive tests taken on prior days.
Nonetheless, as of Jan. 3, the seven-day average of daily new U.S. cases is 480,273, meaning the U.S. has the highest 7-day average of new cases in the world, according to JHU’s rankings.
About 98,000 Americans are hospitalized with Covid-19, according to a seven-day average of data from the Department of Health and Human Services as of Jan. 3, up 32% from a week ago. That figure is approaching peak delta wave levels when about 103,000 people were in hospital beds with Covid across the country in early September, but remains lower than last winter’s high mark of roughly 137,000 U.S. hospitalizations.
The U.S. is reporting an average of about 1,200 daily Covid deaths for the week ending Jan. 3, Hopkins data shows, well below the record numbers seen following last year’s holiday season when the daily average held above 3,000 for about a month starting in January 2021. The death toll tends to lag rises in case counts and hospitalizations, however.

In recent weeks, the U.S. has seen the omicron variant starting to edge out the previously dominant delta strain of the virus.
The latest available weekly data from the U.S. CDC, ending on Dec.25, estimates that the delta variant accounted for around 41% of cases while omicron made up around 58.6% of U.S. infections.
U.S. health officials have urged Americans to get vaccinated and boosted against the coronavirus given concerns over the new variant.
Early studies suggested that Covid vaccines are less effective against the omicron variant compared with the delta strain and other variants. But the same studies have indicated that three vaccine doses — the two preliminary shots plus a booster — significantly increase the level of protection against omicron.
Research has also suggested that the omicron variant causes less severe infections.
The rise of the variant led to thousands of flight cancellations during the holiday season and has led some businesses and schools to consider temporary closures. Several major Wall Street banks have asked employees to work from home for the first few weeks of January.
— CNBC’s Nate Rattner contributed reporting to this story.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

There were 37,379 new cases reported over a 24-hour period, government data showed Tuesday.
That was the highest reported figure since September and marked a sharp jump from the 6,358 cases reported a week earlier on Dec. 28.
Maharashtra and Delhi together account for around half of all cases in India attributed to the omicron variant.

A health worker administers a dose of the Bharat Biotech Ltd. Covaxin vaccine at a Covid-19 vaccination center set up at the Delhi Municipal Corp. Public Health Center in the Daryagunj area of New Delhi, India, on Monday, June 21, 2021.
Sumit Dayal | Bloomberg | Getty Images

India’s Covid-19 cases are rising again as several states grapple with a growing number of infections attributed to the omicron variant.
There were 37,379 new cases reported over a 24-hour period, government data showed Tuesday. That was the highest reported figure since September and marked a sharp jump from the 6,358 cases reported a week earlier on Dec. 28.

The state of Maharashtra, which is home to India’s financial hub Mumbai, has so far detected 568 cases of the omicron variant while the capital territory of Delhi reported 382 cases. Together, they account for around half of all cases in India attributed to the new heavily mutated strain.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Tuesday that he tested positive for Covid and was experiencing “mild symptoms.” He said he was self-isolating at home and urged close contacts to do the same and get tested.
Omicron was first identified by South African scientists in November. The variant has rapidly spread around the globe, with places like the United States and the United Kingdom reporting massive surges.

CNBC Health & Science

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More