Raphael Stevens

Merck said its experimental treatment designed to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus showed positive results in a mid- to late-stage trial.
The pharmaceutical giant could emerge as a new competitor in the market for treatments against RSV, which causes hundreds of infant deaths each year.
Merck is discussing the study data with regulators worldwide, with a goal of making the treatment available for infants as early as the 2025 to 2026 RSV season.

The logo for Merck is displayed on a screen at the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 17, 2021.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Merck on Thursday said its experimental treatment designed to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus showed positive results in a mid- to late-stage trial, bringing the company one step closer to filing for approval of the shot. 
The pharmaceutical giant could emerge as a new competitor in the market for treatments against RSV, which causes thousands of deaths among older Americans and hundreds of deaths among infants each year. Complications from the virus are the leading cause of hospitalization among newborns, making Merck’s drug a valuable new treatment option if approved.

Merck plans to discuss the study data with regulators worldwide, with a goal of making the treatment available for infants as early as the 2025 to 2026 RSV season, according to a release. 
The trial examined the safety and efficacy of a single dose of the treatment, clesrovimab, in healthy preterm and full-term infants entering their first RSV season. Merck presented the results at the medical conference IDWeek in Los Angeles.
The treatment reduced RSV-related hospitalizations by more than 84% and decreased hospitalizations due to lower respiratory infections by 90% compared with a placebo among infants through five months, according to Merck. Clesrovimab also reduced lower respiratory infections that required medical attention by more than 60% compared with a placebo through five months.
RSV is a common cause of lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia. Results were consistent through both the five-month and six-month time points in the trial, Merck said.
The rates of adverse and serious side effects were comparable between patients who received Merck’s shot and those who took placebos in the trial. There were no treatment or RSV-related deaths in the study, the company added. 

“These promising results demonstrating decreased incidence of RSV disease, including hospitalizations, highlight the potential for clesrovimab to play an important role in helping to alleviate the continued burden of RSV on infants and their families,” Dr. Octavio Ramilo, chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, said in Merck’s release. Ramilo is also an investigator working on the trials. 
Merck’s clesrovimab could potentially compete against a similar treatment from Sanofi and AstraZeneca called Beyfortus, which was in short supply nationwide last RSV season due to unprecedented demand. Both are monoclonal antibodies, which deliver antibodies directly into the bloodstream to provide immediate protection. 
But Merck’s treatment can be administered to infants regardless of their weight, which the company said may offer convenience in terms of dosing. Meanwhile, the recommended dosage of Beyfortus is based on an infant’s body weight. 
Last year, Pfizer and GSK rolled out RSV vaccines that are administered to expectant mothers who can pass on protection to their fetuses.  More

The Cleveland Browns plan to leave their open-air Cleveland stadium for a new domed one in Brook Park, Ohio.
The Cleveland mayor said in a release that principal owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam notified him of the decision Wednesday night.
Cleveland is expecting to lose $30 million in economic activity per year if the Browns move to the proposed new stadium.

A general view of Huntington Bank Field during an NFL football game between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Giants in Cleveland on Sept. 22, 2024.
Kirk Irwin | AP

The National Football League’s Cleveland Browns are leaving the shores of Lake Erie.
The Browns plan to leave their current open-air stadium in the city of Cleveland for a yet-to-be-built domed stadium in Brook Park, Ohio, according to a press release from Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb that was later confirmed by the Browns owners.

Jimmy and Dee Haslam, the principals of the ownership group that owns the Browns, notified Bibb of their plan to move on Wednesday night, according to Bibb. He announced the news in a scathing Thursday press release in which he called the Haslams’ choice “driven by a desire to maximize profits rather than positive impact.”
“They had the opportunity to reinvest in Cleveland, transform the current stadium into a world-class facility, enhance the fan experience, and remain highly profitable,” Bibb said. “We put those options on the table in good faith. Unfortunately, that was not enough.”
In a joint statement, the Haslams said it was essential that the team had a domed stadium for “year-round activity,” and the economics of building a dome on some designated land that was still on the lake in the city of Cleveland did not make sense.
A stadium’s ability to generate income from non-football events has gotten even more attention lately. One NFL stadium netted $4 million in revenue per show during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in 2023, CNBC earlier reported.
The Brook Park dome will not use existing taxpayer dollars, the release said.

“Instead, the over $2 billion private investment, together with the public investment, will create a major economic development project that will drive the activity necessary to pay the public bond debt service through future project-generated and Browns-generated revenue,” the Haslams said in the release, while also emphasizing they were still committed to bettering the city of Cleveland.
The Browns’ departure will cost the city of Cleveland $30 million per year in economic impact, according to the mayor’s release. The city is still open to resuming negotiations if the Brook Park venue does not work out, Bibb said.
The City of Cleveland and Haslam Sports Group have been negotiating about renovating the existing stadium or potentially building a new one in Cleveland. But the Haslam Sports Group had also been considering a $2.4 billion dome in Brook Park, according to the Associated Press, and intends to go with that option.
Brook Park is just more than 16 miles from the Browns’ current stadium, which was built in 1999.
The Browns are valued at $6.02 billion, according to CNBC’s Official 2024 NFL Team Valuations. The Browns recently reached a naming rights agreement with Huntington National Bank for their current stadium.

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Netflix posted third-quarter earnings Thursday that beat on the top and bottom lines.
The streamer’s ad-tier memberships jumped 35% quarter over quarter.
Netflix is projecting revenue for the full year of 2025 to be between $43 billion and $44 billion, as it improves its core series and films offerings.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — Netflix posted third-quarter earnings Thursday that beat on the top and bottom lines as its advertising business continued to grow.
The streamer’s ad-tier memberships jumped 35% quarter over quarter. The company is on track to launch the service in Canada in the coming quarter and more broadly in 2025.

While Netflix does not expect advertising to become a primary growth driver until 2026, it noted that the ad-tier accounted for more than 50% of sign-ups during the third-quarter in countries where it is available.
Shares rose about 5% in aftermarket trading.
Here’s what Netflix reported for the period that ended Sept. 30:

Earnings per share: $5.40 vs. $5.12 expected by LSEG
Revenue: $9.83 billion vs. $9.77 billion expected by LSEG
Paid memberships: 282.7 million vs. 282.15 million expected, according to StreetAccount

Net income for the period was $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, up from $1.68 billion, or $3.73 per share, during the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue jumped 15% to $9.83 billion from $8.54 billion a year earlier.
The company noted Thursday that it expects revenue in the fourth quarter to reach $10.13 billion and earnings per share to be $4.23.

Netflix is projecting revenue for the full year of 2025 to be between $43 billion and $44 billion as it improves its core series and films offerings and invests in new initiatives such as ads and gaming. Much of that revenue growth is expected to come from what the company called a “healthy increase in paid memberships.”
Netflix added 5.1 million subscribers during the quarter, more than the 4.5 million Wall Street expected, according to StreetAccount estimates. In total, the streaming service now has 282.7 million memberships across all of its pricing tiers.
Starting in 2025, Netflix will no longer update investors on its subscriber numbers as it shifts focus toward revenue and other financial metrics as performance indicators.
The company touted new shows such as “The Perfect Couple,” “Nobody Wants This” and “Tokyo Swindlers” alongside returning seasons of “Emily in Paris” and “Cobra Kai” as well as big movies such as “Beverly Hills Cops: Axel F,” “Rebel Ridge” and “Officer Black Belt” as breakout viewership hits.
Netflix is set to release a second season of the hit show “Squid Game” in the fourth quarter alongside live sports events such as a boxing match between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson as well as two National Football League games Christmas Day.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct reported and estimated revenue for Netflix’s third quarter. The company reported $9.83 billion compared with $9.77 billion expected, according to LSEG.

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While tobacco use has fallen to a 25-year low among middle and high school students, nicotine pouches are now the age group’s second-most used product.
E-cigarettes continue to be the most used among students who reported tobacco product use, at 5.9%.
Zyn was the most-popular nicotine pouch brand, at 68.7%, reflecting the surge in the brand’s popularity on social media and subsequent nationwide shortage.

Zyn nicotine cases and pouches are seen on a table in New York City on Jan. 29, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Tobacco product use among middle and high school students has dropped to a 25-year low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.
The CDC and FDA recorded data on youth tobacco product use through the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which found that 2.25 million middle and high school students reported they had used any tobacco product in the past 30 days, down from 2.8 million in 2023.

The drop reflected a decline in students who said they were using electronic cigarettes, down to 1.63 million in 2024 from 2.13 million in 2023.
“We’re headed in the right direction when it comes to reducing tobacco product use among our nation’s youth,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a press release Thursday. “But we can’t take our foot off the gas. Continued vigilance is needed to continue to reduce all forms of tobacco product use among youth. Addressing disparities remains an essential part of these efforts to ensure that we don’t leave anyone behind.”
Female students reported the biggest decline in use across the board, and Hispanic students also reported a drop in use of any tobacco product. Evidence-based strategies, including price increases, media campaigns and smoke-free policies, are likely part of what caused tobacco product use to drop, according to the agencies.
E-cigarettes continue to be the most used among students who reported tobacco product use, at 5.9%, but nicotine pouches are now the second-most commonly used tobacco product, at 1.8%, followed by cigarettes at 1.4%.
Nicotine pouch use actually grew among students, though not enough to be considered significant, from 1.2% in 2023 to 1.8% in 2024, the CDC said in September.

“Youth use of tobacco products in any form — including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches — is unsafe,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a press release in September. “It’s essential that we remain vigilant and committed to public health efforts to ensure all youth can live healthy, tobacco-free lives.”
Zyn was the most-popular nicotine pouch brand, at 68.7%, compared with the next most-popular brand On at 14.2%.
Zyn, the oral nicotine pouch brand owned by Philip Morris International, exploded in popularity on social media earlier this year, which led to a nationwide shortage. Philip Morris in July announced plans to invest $600 million into a new Zyn production facility in Colorado in response to the spike in demand.
The survey was distributed among 29,861 students from 283 schools between Jan. 22 and May 22.

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Sports stadiums are facing risks from changing weather patterns.
NFL stadiums could experience $11 billion in climate-related losses by 2050, according to a new report released by the climate risk analysis company, Climate X.
The risk was underscored by Hurricane Milton ripping the roof off Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida.

In this aerial view, the domed roof at Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, is seen ripped to shreds from Hurricane Miltonís powerful winds in St. Petersburg. The storm passed through the area on October 10, 2024, making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane in Siesta Key, Florida. 
Paul Hennessy | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Hurricane Milton’s damage to Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida, was so devastating it likely means the Tampa Bay Rays will be looking for another place to play ball for opening day next spring.
Like many baseball stadiums around the country, Tropicana Field’s geographic location makes it vulnerable to hurricane winds or tornado-force winds, hail, storm surge and flooding.

The Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres and others play on or near the water and could see insurance premiums rise and repair costs soar as weather-related losses hit.
But it’s not just baseball stadiums at risk. NFL stadiums could experience $11 billion in climate-related losses by 2050, according to a new report released by the climate risk analysis company, Climate X.

MetLife Stadium stands next to the American Dream Mall on July 2, 2024, as seen from above East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

As football stadiums are increasingly being used for concert venues, storm shelters and community events, the impact could be severe for the economy.
Climate X said it’s a wake-up call for state and local governments.
“The problem with climate change is non-linear and non-stationary. If you had a problem there yesterday, that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be there tomorrow,” said Kamil Kluza, co-founder of Climate X. “Places that have been unimpacted will become impacted, because the climate will change and move around.”

The risks from changing weather patterns go far beyond hurricane winds and flooding.
Dangerous heat is a problem for the Arizona Diamondbacks playing in Phoenix. The team has a lease until 2027 at Chase Field and is responsible for upkeep and repairs. But the facility is struggling to keep fans cool, much less players, in a city where the temperatures this summer broke even Phoenix’s own scorching records.
Up north, a massive snowstorm in 2010 collapsed the roof of the Minnesota Vikings’ Metrodome.

A man pushes his bicycle through flood waters near the Superdome in New Orleans, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005. Hurricane Katrina left much of the city under water. Officials called for a mandatory evacuation of the city, but many resident remained in the city and had to be rescued from flooded homes and hotels.
Eric Gay | AP

Some of the most harrowing images of stadium damage are still from 2005, of a SuperDome surrounded by floodwaters in New Orleans, housing Katrina victims trying to take cover from the storm.
The Climate X report ranks the vulnerability of the 30 NFL stadiums when it comes to climate hazards such as flooding, wildfires and storm surge. It’s calculated by comparing the projected damage costs to the stadium’s current replacement value.
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, home of the New York Giants and the New York Jets, is projected to incur the biggest losses. Climate X projects a total percentage loss of 184%, with cumulative damages exceeding $5.6 billion by 2050 due to the stadium’s low elevation in the marshy Meadowlands and exposure to flooding and storm surge.

Storm Surge severity around MetLife Stadium in 2050, under RCP8.5 scenario, with failing flood defenses (the 8.5 scenario represents a conservative academic consensus with the end of century temperatures higher by 4.3°C, relative to pre-industrial temperatures) – powered by Climate X Spectra.
Source: Climate X

The new state-of-the-art $5 billion Sofi Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, and State Farm Stadium in Arizona, where the Arizona Cardinals play, are the next-most vulnerable stadiums to climate risk.
Climate X said Lumen Field in Seattle, home to the Seattle Seahawks, and Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, home to the Green Bay Packers, are projected to have a much lower relative loss rates. Their non-coastal locations and limited exposure to extreme heat events could benefit them.
Some teams are trying to tackle the climate change problem head on. For example, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas ran the Super Bowl completely off renewable energy.
Mercedes Benz stadium in Atlanta, home to the Atlanta Falcons, said its energy-efficient design reduces electricity usage by 29%.
“The bottom line is that climate change is happening, whether we like it or not, and I think the instead of fighting climate change with just sustainability and reducing CO2, we need to start acting to put adaptation measures in place,” Kluza said.
As for Tropicana Field, there are questions about whether it should be repaired at all, as it’s slated for demolition anyway to make way for a new $1.3 billion ballpark for the Rays to play in time for the 2028 season. More

Universal’s Epic Universe theme park will open its gates on May 22, 2025.
The park spans 750 acres and features five themed worlds: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – The Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon – The Isle of Berk, Celestial Park and Dark Universe.
Epic Universe is the company’s fourth theme park.

Concept rendering of Universal Orlando Resort’s newest theme park: Epic Universe.
NBC Universal

Universal’s Epic Universe theme park will open its gates on May 22, 2025, in Orlando, Florida.
Epic Universe is the company’s fourth theme park, part of a 750 acre development, and is the largest of all its properties, with five themed worlds: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – The Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon – The Isle of Berk, Celestial Park and Dark Universe.

First announced in 2019, Epic Universe represents the single-largest investment Comcast’s NBCUniversal has ever made in its theme parks business and in Florida overall, CEO Brian Roberts said at the time.
Construction was halted in July 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but began to ramp up again in March 2021.
Adding Epic Universe to its catalog of Orlando-based amusements allows Universal to turn its resort into a weeklong travel destination, and not just a two- or three-day trip for families. The company also operates Volcano Bay, a water park about a mile down the road from the Universal Studios parks.
“This is such a pivotal moment for our destination, and we’re thrilled to welcome guests to Epic Universe next year,” said Karen Irwin, president and chief operating officer of Universal Orlando Resort, in a statement Thursday. “With the addition of this spectacular new theme park, our guests will embark on an unforgettable vacation experience with a week’s worth of thrills that will be nothing short of epic.”
Epic Universe will be anchored around the Loews Hotels’ Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a 500-room property that will have a dedicated entrance to the park for hotel guests.

Universal will begin offering some multiday tickets and packages starting Oct. 22. This first phase of tickets will allow guests to purchase three-, four- or five-day admission to Universal’s Orlando Resort, with one-day admission to Epic Universe.
Additionally, annual passholders will have the chance to buy single-day tickets to Epic Universe on Oct. 24 before they go on sale to the general public. Other ticketing options will be available at a later date.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

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