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    FDA approves Johnson & Johnson’s nasal spray for depression as stand-alone treatment

    The Food and Drug Administration approved Johnson & Johnson’s nasal spray to be used alone in adults with a major depressive disorder that is difficult to treat, as sales of the drug grow. 
    The spray, called Spravato, is now the first-ever stand-alone therapy for treatment-resistant depression, which is when trying at least two standard treatments does little to nothing to improve depression symptoms in a patient. 
    Spravato is on its way to becoming a blockbuster product, with the drug bringing in $780 million in sales during the first nine months of 2024 as doctors grow more comfortable using it.

    This photo provided by Janssen Global Services shows Spravato nasal spray.
    Janssen Global Services via AP

    The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Johnson & Johnson’s nasal spray to be used alone in adults with a major depressive disorder that is difficult to treat, as sales of the drug grow. 
    The spray, called Spravato, is now the first-ever stand-alone therapy for treatment-resistant depression, which is when trying at least two standard treatments does little to nothing to improve depression symptoms in a patient. 

    Previously, Spravato was cleared in the U.S. to use together with an oral antidepressant for both treatment-resistant depression and for people with major depressive disorder who are experiencing thoughts of suicide or harm. The drug first entered the U.S. market in 2019. 
    “We want to recognize that this is a medicine that treats a disease that [when] left untreated, depression is potentially fatal,” Bill Martin, J&J’s global therapeutic area head of neuroscience, said in an interview. 
    Around one-third of the estimated 21 million U.S. adults with major depression battle symptoms — such as persistent feelings of sadness, sleep disturbances, low energy, and thoughts of death or suicide — that don’t respond to treatment, according to some estimates. 
    “For the first time ever, we now have an option that gives patients freedom,” said Dr. Gregory Mattingly, a physician and president of the Midwest Research Group who was involved in Spravato’s original clinical trials. 
    His center in St. Louis has treated more than 6,000 patients with the drug, and currently just over 100 people are taking it there. That is one of 3,000 outpatient treatment centers in the U.S. that are certified to administer Spravato, according to J&J’s tally.

    Mattingly said patients can now choose to take Spravato with or without an oral antidepressant, especially if those pills aren’t improving their symptoms and are causing undesirable side effects, such as weight gain and sexual issues. 
    J&J’s Martin said the approval provides “an avenue for caregivers and their patients to really optimize, personalize the treatment paradigm for each individual” and determine the best way for them to manage the disease. 
    That could potentially “open up the number of patients who could benefit” from Spravato, according to Martin. 

    More CNBC health coverage

    Spravato is on its way to becoming a blockbuster product, with the drug bringing in $780 million in sales during the first nine months of 2024 as doctors grow more comfortable using it, according to J&J’s third-quarter earnings. The company has even higher expectations for its growth, telling investors in December that it expects sales will increase to between $1 billion and $5 billion annually. 
    That is a boon to J&J as it prepares for an upcoming patent expiration and new negotiated prices with Medicare to pressure sales of its top-selling inflammatory treatment, Stelara. 
    The approval is based on a phase four trial, which showed Spravato alone improved depressive symptoms beginning about 24 hours after treatment and lasting through at least one month. The company has said that the safety profile was consistent with previous clinical data on Spravato’s use in combination with oral antidepressants.
    Martin said that demonstrates “not only rapid symptom relief, but also a durable symptom relief” when patients take Spravato by itself. 

    Spravato’s long road to rapid growth

    Spravato blazed a trail in 2019 as the first new major depression treatment to win FDA approval in more than three decades. The drug is related to ketamine, a common anesthetic that can have hallucinogenic effects and is sometimes misused recreationally. J&J made it into a nasal spray to get it into the brain quickly. 
    Spravato “turns on neural networks in a way that’s different,” said Mattingly. 
    “Our standard oral antidepressants took weeks to months to see if they’re going to work,” he added. “Quite often with the same day, the very next day, people can already start to feel they’re feeling somewhat better” with Spravato.
    Spravato’s warning label cautions about the risk of sedation and dissociation, respiratory depression, suicidal thoughts, and abuse or misuse of the drug, among other potential side effects. Because of that, Spravato is only available through a restricted program, meaning it can’t be purchased at a pharmacy and is only administered in certified health-care settings under strict supervision. 
    Users of the medication must also be monitored by a health-care professional for two hours following administration.
    Spravato’s launch had a sluggish start, especially as pandemic-related challenges complicated arrangements for the drug’s necessary medical supervision. But J&J began to market Spravato more heavily after in-person doctor visits became the norm again, and physicians became more aware of its benefits. 
    “The mental health community wasn’t really used to doing procedures at that point. We weren’t used to having a space set aside. We weren’t used to thinking about how to do Spravato,” Mattingly said. “I think the good news is now we’ve all seen the benefits to our patients. So many of us have become really strong advocates” for it. 
    Five years of real-world data on the drug and a head-to-head study demonstrating Spravato’s superior efficacy to an oral antidepressant also gave doctors higher confidence in the treatment, according to J&J’s Martin.
    If you are having suicidal thoughts or are in distress, contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for support and assistance from a trained counselor.

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    ‘Moana 2’ tops $1 billion, extending Disney’s box office domination

    Walt Disney Animation’s “Moana 2” has crossed $1 billion at the global box office.
    It is the third Disney film released in 2024 to reach this coveted benchmark.
    Disney now has 32 billion-dollar movies — including three films it acquired when it bought Fox in 2019.

    Dwayne Johnson voices Maui in Disney Animation’s “Moana 2.”

    The Walt Disney Company’s box office domination continued over the holiday weekend.
    “Moana 2” topped $1 billion during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, becoming the studio’s third 2024 release to reach the coveted benchmark after Marvel Studios’ “Deadpool and Wolverine” and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2.” No other Hollywood studio had a film cross $1 billion last year.

    “Moana 2” snared $442.8 million at the domestic box office and $567.1 million in international markets, the company posted over the weekend. It is the fourth film from the Walt Disney Animation arm to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales alongside “Frozen,” “Frozen II” and “Zootopia.”
    This feat is another feather in the cap for Disney, which had struggled in the years after the pandemic to gain tractions with its animated releases. Much of the company’s difficulties stemmed, in part, from decisions to debut a handful of animated features directly on its streaming service Disney+. This trained parents to look for new content at home even after theatrical closures ended and films returned to cinemas.
    “Inside Out 2” not only marked a return to form for Disney, but it helped jumpstart the overall domestic box office in June. It snared more than $650 million domestically and became the first film since Warner Bros′ “Barbie” to top $1 billion at the global box office.
    It also marked the first time a Pixar or Walt Disney Animation film generated more than $480 million at the global box office since 2019. “Inside Out 2″ ultimately became the highest-grossing film of 2024.
    “Deadpool and Wolverine,” “Inside Out 2” and “Moana 2,” along with a handful of other theatrical releases, helped Disney reach more than $2.2 billion at the domestic box office last year, accounting for about 25% of the industry’s total haul, according to data from Comscore.
    With “Moana 2” crossing the billion-dollar mark, Disney now has 32 billion-dollar movies — including three films it acquired when it bought Fox in 2019, according to the company. For context, there have only been 56 films that have topped $1 billion at the global box office, meaning Disney is responsible for nearly 60% of the highest-grossing films in cinematic history. More

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    Goldman Sachs rolls out an AI assistant for its employees as artificial intelligence sweeps Wall Street

    Goldman Sachs is rolling out a generative AI assistant to its bankers, traders and asset managers, the first stage in the evolution of a program that will eventually take on the traits of a seasoned Goldman employee, according to Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti.
    The bank has released a program called GS AI assistant to about 10,000 employees so far, with the goal that all the company’s knowledge workers will have it this year, Argenti told CNBC in an exclusive interview.
    “The AI assistant becomes really like talking to another GS employee,” Argenti said.

    Goldman Sachs GS AI Assistant
    Courtesy: Goldman Sachs

    Goldman Sachs is rolling out a generative AI assistant to its bankers, traders and asset managers, the first stage in the evolution of a program that will eventually take on the traits of a seasoned Goldman employee, according to Chief Information Officer Marco Argenti.
    The bank has released a program called GS AI assistant to about 10,000 employees so far, with the goal that all the company’s knowledge workers will have it this year, Argenti told CNBC in an exclusive interview. It will initially help with tasks including summarizing or proofreading emails or translating code from one language to another.

    “Think about all the tasks that you might want to complete with regards to a variety of use cases for all those professions that can be now at your fingertips,” Argenti said. The Goldman assistant is a “very simple interface that allows you to have access to the latest and greatest models.”
    Goldman’s move means that, along with JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, the world’s top three investment banks have aggressively released generative AI tools to their workforce, a remarkable development since ChatGPT went viral about two years ago.
    Wall Street has embraced generative artificial intelligence faster than any other disruptive technology in recent years, experts say, because of how adept large language models are in replicating aspects of human cognition.
    Today it can respond to queries, write emails and summarize lengthy documents, but expectations are high that future versions will exhibit so-called agentic abilities, meaning they can perform multistep tasks with little human intervention.
    In speaking with CNBC about his vision for artificial intelligence at the firm, Argenti — who joined from Amazon in 2019 — repeatedly likened the AI program to a new employee that will absorb Goldman culture over the coming years.

    Initially, the tool will mostly produce answers based on Goldman data that has been fed into AI models from OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Llama, depending on the task, said Argenti. The bank is also looking at models from companies including Anthropic, Mistral and Cohere, he added.
    “The AI assistant becomes really like talking to another GS employee,” Argenti said.

    Learning the Goldman Way

    “As we progress, the second step is when you’re starting to have this agentic behavior, that is, ‘I’m completing a task on behalf of a Goldman employee, and I need to take a set of steps,'” he said. “That’s where the model is going to start to do things like a Goldman employee, not only say things like a Goldman employee.”
    This helps explain why companies have forbid employees from using ChatGPT for work, instead moving to create their own platforms to tap the technology. It allows firms to not only keep their information secure, but to also craft AI platforms that increasingly resemble the best examples of their own workforce.
    “For the AI to have a very specific identity that reflects the tenets, the values, the knowledge and the way of thinking of the firm is extremely important,” Argenti said.
    In practice, that means that just as an experienced Goldman employee would know to double-check their work with multiple data sources or use a specific algorithm for a calculation, the AI will absorb those lessons, he said.

    Marco Argenti, chief information officer for Goldman Sachs, joined the bank from Amazon in 2019.
    Courtesy: Goldman Sachs

    But Argenti says he is most excited by the prospect of what comes later, in perhaps three to five years, as AI models increasingly blur the lines between human and machine thinking.
    This stage of AI at Goldman would have the model “actually reason more and become more like the way a Goldman employee would think,” he said.
    So instead of being handed a run book, which is tech industry parlance for a set of step-by-step instructions for completing tasks or responding to incidents, the AI would be able to generate detailed plans “in the way that an experienced Goldman employee would do,” Argenti said.

    Disruption risk

    The prospects of that future — and the fact that Wall Street’s workers are helping train a technology that may make some roles obsolete, while augmenting other jobs and creating new roles altogether — may send a fresh wave of anxiety through employee ranks.
    Like at Goldman, other major investment banks are on target to give generative AI tools to their entire workforces in the coming months.
    More than 200,000 JPMorgan employees currently have access to in-house generative AI tools, according to a person with knowledge of that bank who declined to be identified speaking about internal matters. Roughly 40,000 Morgan Stanley employees had access to it as of late last year, the bank said in October.
    Finance and technology are seen as among the industries where employees are most prone to upheaval because of generative AI, allowing companies to potentially generate billions of dollars in additional profits. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told podcaster Joe Rogan earlier this month that its AI will be capable of writing code as well as mid-level software engineers this year.
    Global investment banks may shed as many as 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as the companies implement AI, according to a report from Bloomberg’s research arm. The report, based on a survey of tech executives at major banks, said that support and operations roles known as the back and middle office were most at risk.
    At Goldman, however, the official stance is that AI will empower employees to do more, not necessarily result in the need for fewer humans.
    “The importance of having a phenomenal human workforce is actually going to be amplified,” Argenti said.
    “In my opinion, it always boils down to people,” he said. “People are going to make a difference, because people are going to be the ones that actually evolve the AI, educate the AI, empower the AI, and then take action.” More

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    Crypto market will see a new all-time high in 2025, Binance CEO says

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    Richard Teng, Binance’s CEO, on Tuesday said that he sees “much clearer regulation” in the U.S. this year under the new Trump administration, adding that this will be supportive for crypto markets.
    “If you look at past cycles, this year will be a year that we see a new all-time high for the crypto industry,” Teng told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
    Last year, bitcoin passed the $100,000 price milestone for the first time, as traders grew optimistic about the crypto industry’s prospects under a Trump administration.

    The crypto market will see a new all-time high in 2025 on the back of positive regulatory movements in the U.S. under newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, the CEO of Binance told CNBC Tuesday.
    Richard Teng, who took the reins from former Binance boss Changpeng Zhao last year, told CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal that he sees “much clearer regulation” happening in the U.S. this year under the new Trump administration, adding this will be supportive for crypto markets.

    “If you look at past cycles, this year will be a year that we see a new all-time high for the crypto industry,” Teng said in a fireside chat at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
    Bitcoin passed the $100,000 price milestone for the first time last year, as traders grew optimistic about the crypto industry’s prospects under a Trump administration. As of Tuesday, the token was trading near $104,000, according to CoinGecko, down 3% in the last 24 hours amid a broad slump in crypto markets.

    “The narrative [around crypto] has shifted quite drastically” since last year, Teng added, noting he’s been hearing positive crypto sentiments expressed by political and corporate leaders since arriving in Davos.
    In terms of new legislation, Teng said that he expects to see progress in the United States on several fronts, including token issuance, trading and asset management.
    Trump isn’t the only key U.S. political figure who is “pro-crypto,” Teng said, adding: “The House of Representatives and the Senate now [are] pro-crypto, compared to the past.”

    “So, legislation will be passed, you have pro-crypto regulators being appointed to key commissioner roles in the SEC and CFTC,” Binance’s CEO said.
    Trump picked respected Washington lawyer Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has previously been aggressive in its enforcement approach to the crypto industry
    Teng is also expecting Trump to give the crypto sector “certainty” and “recognition,” as well as establish a U.S. strategic bitcoin reserve — something the now-president suggested he’d do during his campaign.

    Clarification: The text and headline of this story have been clarified to reflect that Binance CEO Richard Teng said the crypto market will hit a new all-time high in 2025. More

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    Ray Dalio says cutting budget deficit is crucial to stabilize the bond market

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    Ray Dalio, Founder & CIO Mentor Bridgewater Associates, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 16th, 2024.
    Adam Galici | CNBC

    Billionaire investor Ray Dalio thinks reducing the U.S. budget deficit could stabilize the bond market and lower interest rates.
    The founder of Bridgewater, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, said the current projected deficit is 7.5% of U.S. gross domestic product. If that ratio goes down to 3%, the supply-demand imbalance in the bond market would be lessened significantly, Dalio said.

    “It’s almost a black and white situation,” Dalio said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “All those bonds have to be sold … there’s a tremendous supply … It’s happened many times before, so we have to stabilize that, and we can do it.”
    Rising financing costs along with continued spending growth and declining tax receipts have combined to send deficits spiraling and have pushed the national debt past the $36 trillion mark. In 2024, the government spent more on interest payments than any other outlay other than Social Security, defense and health care.
    The widely-followed investor said reducing the deficit can be achieved through higher taxes, lower spending or a combination of the two, so long as politicians work together to solve the problem.
    “That’s what I call the 3% solution,” Dalio said. “We have so much debt that the interest costs on the debt is more important than spending and taxes …. our problem isn’t the deficit. Our problem is the politics, the fragmented politics.” More

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    Bank of America CEO says financial industry will jump into crypto payments if regulators allow it

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    Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said that the U.S. banking industry will embrace cryptocurrencies for payments if regulators allow it.
    The head of the second-largest U.S. bank by assets was asked by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin about how the industry’s approach to crypto could change given President Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for digital currencies.
    “If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it,” Moynihan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Tuesday that the U.S. banking industry will embrace cryptocurrencies for payments if regulators allow it.
    The head of the second-largest U.S. bank by assets was asked by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin about how the industry’s approach to crypto could change given President Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for digital currencies.

    “If the rules come in and make it a real thing that you can actually do business with, you’ll find that the banking system will come in hard on the transactional side of it,” Moynihan said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
    American banks have largely avoided letting customers use crypto for retail transactions, although their institutional trading and wealth management arms have participated in markets for bitcoin ETFs. Leaders in the industry, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, have lambasted bitcoin as a currency for criminals and fraudsters.
    “If you go down the street here and you go in and buy lunch, right, if you can pay with Visa, Mastercard, a debit card, Apple Pay, etc., this would just be another form of payment,” Moynihan said. “We have hundreds of patents on blockchain already, we know how to enter the field.”
    The veteran Bank of America CEO didn’t address the idea of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as an investment or store of value, saying it is “really a separate question.”

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    Bitcoin slips, Trump token plunges over 20% as bullish crypto sentiment cools

    “Official Trump,” a token representing the new U.S. leader, plunged as much as 26% in 24 hours.
    A meme token released Sunday by first lady Melania Trump also crashed.
    Trump’s inauguration Monday lacked any concrete policy announcements regarding crypto.

    A cartoon image of US President-elect Donald Trump with cryptocurrency tokens, depicted in front of the White House to mark his inauguration, displayed at a Coinhero store in Hong Kong, China, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. 
    Paul Yeung | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies sank on Tuesday, as bullish investor sentiment surrounding cryptocurrencies cooled after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
    “Official Trump,” a token launched last week that represents the new U.S. leader, plunged as much as 26% in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Meanwhile, a meme token released Sunday by first lady Melania Trump, roughly halved in price in a day.

    Bitcoin dipped as much as 5% Tuesday morning before paring losses slightly. The world’s largest digital coin was last down 2%, trading at $104,375. XRP, a smaller token, fell 4%. Ether was flat.
    Crypto investors have hailed Trump’s arrival to the White House as a positive moment for the industry. The president has promised to introduce policies supportive of cryptocurrencies, including an accommodating regulatory framework and a federal bitcoin hoard.

    While Trump is viewed as set to benefit crypto, his inauguration Monday lacked any concrete policy announcements regarding the sector. That appeared to be the primary factor taking the wind out of the crypto market’s sails on Tuesday.
    Kenneth Lamont, a principal at Morningstar, warned investors not to jump into crypto trading without being properly informed about the risks involved.
    “If Donald Trump delivers on his election promises, we could see cryptocurrency markets continue to surge. However, investors would do well to resist the siren call of fear of missing out, and sit on their hands,” Lamont said in emailed comments Tuesday.

    Cryptocurrencies are known to be volatile. Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital coin, has previously risen or fallen by thousands of dollars in a single day. Alternative coins, or “altcoins,” like ether and XRP, have proven even more more prone to fluctuations.
    “Fear of missing out is not an investment strategy. For many investors, the lure of easy wealth is strong,” Lamont said, adding that retail investors “tend to be poor at market timing, buying and selling at the worst moments.” More

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    Trade war has no winners, China’s vice premier warns, as Trump threatens tariffs

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    Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang warned there are “no winners” in a trade war.
    “Protectionism leads no where. [A trade war has no winners,” Ding said Tuesday, according to an official English translation.
    Returning U.S. President Donald Trump indicated tariffs could be a way to pressure China into forcing Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok, whose future availability in the U.S. is now in question.

    Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang speaks during COP29 on Nov. 12, 2024.
    Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

    BEIJING — Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang warned there are “no winners” in a trade war, as the world’s second-largest economy faces the possibility of tariffs under the freshly-inaugurated administration of Donald Trump.
    “Protectionism leads no where. [A] trade war has no winners,” Ding said Tuesday, according to an official English translation. He was speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    The vice premier began his address largely by referencing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at Davos in 2017, which took place just days before Trump headed to the White House to begin his first term.
    At the time, Xi had said that “pursuing protectionism is just like locking one’s self in a dark room. Wind and rain might be kept outside but so are light and air.”
    After his second inauguration on Monday, Trump said the U.S. could levy tariffs on Mexico and Canada as soon as February. As for China, the returning U.S. president indicated tariffs could be a way to pressure the country into forcing Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok, whose future availability in the U.S. is now in question.
    “If we wanted to make a deal with TikTok, and it was a good deal, and China wouldn’t approve it, then I think ultimately they’d approve it, because we’d put tariffs on China,” Trump said. “I’m not saying I would, but you certainly could do that.”
    Trump said he and Xi discussed TikTok and trade during a call on Friday. The Chinese readout of the exchange did not mention the social media app. Neither leader attended Davos this year.

    Ding, who said he was attending Davos for the second time, is one of China’s four vice premiers. China economy has struggled with lackluster consumption and a real estate slump. Despite this, the country’s GDP officially grew by 5% last year after a flurry of stimulus announcements starting in late September.
    In his speech on Tuesday, Ding attributed China’s economic challenges to the external environment and to “temporary pains brought [about] by our own economic restructuring.” He referenced that the country is trying to move away from real estate as a pillar of growth and toward new drivers such as high-end technology.
    China’s technological achievements are the result of “open cooperation,” Ding added in a subsequent discussion with World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab. The Chinese official emphasized that Beijing is developing artificial intelligence for the “intelligent transformation” of its economy, and has institutions capable of controlling the emerging technology.
    Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the U.S. had said it was in competition with China and imposed sweeping restrictions that prevent Chinese companies from buying high-end semiconductors used for training artificial intelligence systems.”
    “On the global governance of AI, this is a tough issue,” Ding said. “If we allow this reckless competition among countries to continue then we will see a grey rhino, what to do about it?”
    He called for global coordination on AI governance through the United Nations, similar to nuclear or biological risks.
    Ding broadly warned of “unimaginable consequences” if the world were to split into different systems, including a worst-case-scenario of a “relapse into confrontation.”
    “That would be a situation [in which] no country can stay unafflicted,” Ding said.
    — CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report. More