Raphael Stevens

Pfizer’s experimental oral drug to treat Covid-19 at the first sign of illness could be available by the end of the year, CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC on Tuesday.The company, which developed the first authorized Covid-19 vaccine in the U.S. with German drugmaker BioNTech, began in March an early stage clinical trial testing a new antiviral therapy for the disease. The drug is part of a class of medicines called protease inhibitors and works by inhibiting an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate in human cells.Protease inhibitors are used to treat other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C.If clinical trials go well and the Food and Drug Administration approves it, the drug could be distributed across the U.S. by the end of the year, Bourla told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”Health experts say the drug, taken by mouth, could be a game changer because people newly infected with the virus could use it outside of hospitals. Researchers hope the medication will keep the disease from progressing and prevent hospital trips.In addition to the drug, Pfizer is still testing its vaccine in 6-month to 11-year-old children. Vaccinating children is crucial to ending the coronavirus pandemic, public health officials and infectious disease experts say.Earlier this month, the company asked the FDA to expand its vaccine authorization to adolescents ages 12 to 15 after the shot was found to be 100% effective in a study.Bourla told CNBC on Tuesday he is “very optimistic” that the FDA will approve use of the shot in adolescents. More

In this articleAADRThe reopening trade still has room to run, according to several market analysts.Many investors are wondering whether the economic recovery’s windfall has been priced into the stock market, but to AdvisorShares founder and CEO Noah Hamman, that’s not yet a reality.The reopening rally is “just beginning,” said Hamman, whose firm launched the AdvisorShares Hotel ETF (BEDZ) and the AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF (EATZ) last week.”You’ve got American savers who have been holding back capital,” he told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday. “They’re going to be ready to spend it, and they’ll spend it aggressively, and they’ll do it in industries like restaurants or hotels that are really ready to soak up this demand.”Vici Properties, Airbnb, Full House Resorts, Marriott International and Extended Stay America are the top five holdings in BEDZ. Jack in the Box, Del Taco, Brinker International, Yum Brands and Darden are EATZ’s largest positions.Rising interest rates can also help the largely value-oriented reopening plays, said Steve Grasso, managing director of institutional sales at Stuart Frankel and a CNBC contributor.”There’s still gas left in the tank for the reopening plays,” Grasso said in the same “ETF Edge” interview.Hotel, restaurant and airline stocks in particular should get a boost from the blowout gross domestic product growth expected for 2021’s first quarter, he said.”The other side to this is that you still have checks going out to individuals and we don’t know when those checks will stop,” Grasso said. “So, it’s hard to call an end to the reopening trade when the money keeps flowing.”Mark Yusko, the founder, CEO and chief investment officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management, agreed that reopening plays have “a lot more to go” in terms of upside.”What has to happen is true recovery. People have to get back to normal, and I think that has yet to happen,” he said in the same “ETF Edge” interview, adding that investors shouldn’t get overexcited about a pop in GDP.”The real key here is the way AdvisorShares goes about it, is active management,” Yusko said. “We’re a big believer that we are on the cusp of a pretty significant transition over the next decade toward active management, away from passive, away from indexing, and that’s really going to favor these types of ETFs.”However, investors should still keep track of the hotel and restaurant industries’ fundamentals, Tom Lydon, the CEO of ETF Trends, said in the same “ETF Edge” interview.”Restaurants [are] having struggles hiring people right now because a lot of that lower-paid workforce actually was doing other things during the pandemic — going back to school, finding other careers — and also, food prices have gone through the roof,” he said. “So, the profitability of restaurants and actually hotels is something we need to keep an eye on, too.”Nevertheless, “I’m optimistic on the space,” Lydon said.BEDZ and EATZ both climbed around 1% in early Tuesday trading.Disclaimer More

BET founder Robert Johnson told CNBC on Tuesday he hopes corporate America will support efforts that boost Black Americans’ access to capital with the same vigor as many companies recently did around voting access.Johnson’s comments on “Squawk Box” came one day after the entrepreneur went public with a proposal that would give preferential tax treatment to capital gains on investments made in minority-owned businesses. He called on politicians in Washington to consider his idea, which he said would incentivize investment in businesses that have historically lacked it.”If you believe that voting rights is a primary need of the Black community, I would argue that access to capital is equal to or more so,” Johnson said. “Voting rights without access to capital to build wealth is, in my opinion, an empty cup.”Johnson, who founded Black Entertainment Television in 1980, has been vocal about the role companies can play in addressing racial inequality in the U.S., particularly around changing hiring practices.While saying he does support the protection of voting rights for Black Americans, Johnson said it’s also key to ensure it can lead to policies being enacted that meaningfully improve economic opportunity.The founder and chairman of investment firm RLJ Companies has criticized Democrats and Republicans alike for not doing enough to address enduring inequities for Black Americans, even suggesting last year that Black Americans form their own political party.”It’s a glass half empty if you’re saying, ‘I’m going to give you the right to vote, but that vote doesn’t translate into you being able to build wealth for your family; send your kids off to college; provide retirement savings for you; to become a part of the economic system in the country as you deserve, giving you equal opportunity,'” Johnson said Tuesday.Johnson said his message to business leaders who criticized the recent election reform law in Georgia and publicized broad support for voting rights is: “Take the same attitude toward capital.””This is, after all, the capitalistic, free market economy,” said Johnson, who became America’s first Black billionaire in 2001 when BET’s holding company was acquired by Viacom. “Access to capital and access to wealth … is what Black Americans need now more than ever,” Johnson added. He is no longer on the Forbes billionaires list.A number of companies announced commitments to addressing racial inequality in the U.S. last year after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked renewed attention to the long-standing economic disparities.Some of the nation’s largest banks — such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup — have committed capital to initiatives focused on reducing inequality. Goldman Sachs announced last month a $10 billion program to advance economic opportunity for Black women.Johnson also weighed in on the possibility of higher taxes on corporations and capital gains for wealthy Americans as part of various legislative proposals from the Biden administration. “It comes down to, how do you use the tax code to increase … economic growth overall?” Johnson added, saying that raising taxes on companies “in a blanket fashion is not, in my opinion, the best way.” More

Covid-19 has killed more than 500,000 Americans in the span of a year — pushing morgues, mortuaries and funeral homes to their limits as they try to react to surging demand.In the past decade, dying has become an increasingly expensive thing to do. In 2019, the median cost of a traditional adult funeral with viewing, burial and vault was $9,130 compared with $8,508 five years before. In tough times, more and more families are choosing cremation or simply scaling down on memorial services for their loved ones. Both of which bring in less revenue for funeral businesses that tend to rely on extravagant services and expensive caskets and burials.Silicon Valley is seeing a surge in start-ups specializing in end-of-life care, and major investors are backing them up. According to data from Crunchbase, over the past three years, venture and seed backers have put capital into at least 26 companies offering products and services around death and bereavement.Amid Covid and changing consumer preferences, the death-care industry has faced a lot of challenges. But much like the increase in fatalities, investigations and lawsuits continue to mount for funeral homes across the country. So with traditional funeral rituals becoming more obsolete, increasingly expensive and entrenched in criticism, what does this mean for the death-care industry?  More

In this articleBYNDBeyond Meat “Beyond Burger” patties made from plant-based substitutes for meat products sit on a shelf for sale in New York City.Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty ImagesBeyond Meat will launch the latest version of its meat-free burger patties in grocery stores next week.Since introducing the first iteration of the Beyond Burger in 2016, the patties are now carried in more than 28,000 retail locations across the United States. Pre-pandemic, restaurants and cafeterias accounted for about half of Beyond’s total sales, but the crisis has shifted that balance sharply in favor of grocery and convenience stores. Retail sales rose 76% to $62.1 million during the company’s fourth quarter.Consumers will be able to buy the Beyond Burger 3.0 in grocery stores starting Monday. By June, the product will hit restaurants.Chuck Muth, the company’s chief growth officer, said that improving its meat alternatives helps the company hold onto its market share, even as more competitors like Tyson Foods and Kellogg offer meatless burgers.”As one of the first movers in the category, we do have a prominent position,” Muth said. “We’re only going to stay there if we continue to innovate, and we will always stay focused on our innovation and improving our products.”Ultimately, Beyond sees traditional meat producers as its real competition. Improving the taste of its Beyond Burger helps win customers. Moreover, the meat substitute boasts 35% less total fat, no cholesterol and fewer calories than a burger made from 80/20 beef.Beyond’s strategy to encourage meat-lovers to switch to its products includes achieving price parity with beef by 2024. The company will sell the new version of its burgers in its first value four-pack, with a suggested retail price of $9.99. The average advertised price for a pound of beef patties, which makes about four burgers, was $2.93 for this week, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Rival Impossible Foods has also been slashing prices.The Beyond Burgers will also be available in a two-pack and a 1-pound Beyond Beef pack.Shares of Beyond have risen 21% over the last 12 months, giving the company a market value of $8.33 billion. It is expected to report its first-quarter earnings after the bell on May 6. More