Raphael Stevens

GlaxoSmithKline sued Pfizer in U.S. court, alleging patent infringement over GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine. 
Pfizer’s RSV vaccine infringes on four of GSK’s patents related to the antigen used in its own shot, Britain-based GSK wrote in a scathing complaint filed in federal court in Delaware. 
Both vaccines were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in adults 60 and above.

Jun Li | Istock | Getty Images

GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday sued Pfizer in U.S. court, alleging patent infringement over Britain-based GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine. 
GSK claims New York-based Pfizer’s RSV vaccine, Abrysvo, infringes on four of its patents related to the antigen used in its own shot.

related investing news

2 days ago

“Upon information and belief, Pfizer knowingly uses GSK’s claimed inventions in Abrysvo without permission,” GSK wrote in a scathing complaint filed in federal court in Delaware.
Both vaccines were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May for use in adults 60 and above. Some doses are already available to the public at retail pharmacies like Walgreens.
RSV is a common respiratory infection that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms, but more severe cases in older adults and children. Each year, it kills 6,000 to 10,000 seniors and a few hundred children younger than 5, according to CDC data.
GSK is demanding a jury trial and seeking monetary damages, including lost profits and royalties resulting from Pfizer’s alleged patent infringement. 
The British drugmaker is also asking a judge to prevent Pfizer from manufacturing and selling Abrysvo in the U.S. for adults 60 and older.

GSK said it is not seeking to limit the use of Abrysvo for preventing RSV in infants, a separate shot specifically designed to protect newborns. The FDA is expected to make a final decision on that vaccine in August. 

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest health coverage:

A Pfizer spokesperson said it is “confident in its intellectual property position and will strongly defend its right to bring its innovative” RSV shot to patients. 
The lawsuit noted that Pfizer began working on its RSV vaccine program as early as 2013, at least seven years after GSK started its own program. 
The suit alleges that Pfizer knew of GSK’s patented technology since at least October 2019, when Pfizer began challenging the validity of European versions of the patents. 
It’s not the first time GSK has waged a legal battle against Pfizer over patent rights. 
GSK in 2016 sued Pfizer in court in Ireland, alleging patent infringement over GSK’s meningitis vaccine.
Moderna last August also sued Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement over its Covid vaccine. Pfizer and BioNTech countersued in December More

Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on World Wrestling Entertainment boss Vince McMahon and served him with a federal grand jury subpoena last month, WWE disclosed.
The actions represent an escalation of an ongoing investigation into allegations that McMahon had paid millions of dollars over the years to women after being accused of sexual misconduct.
WWE also revealed that McMahon “went on medical leave after undergoing major spinal surgery.”

World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. Chairman Vince McMahon appears in the ring during the WWE Monday Night Raw show at the Thomas & Mack Center August 24, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ethan Miller | Getty Images

Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant on World Wrestling Entertainment boss Vince McMahon last month and served him with a federal grand jury subpoena, the company disclosed Wednesday.
The actions represent an escalation of an ongoing investigation into allegations that McMahon paid millions of dollars over the years to women after being accused of sexual misconduct.

WWE also revealed Wednesday that McMahon “went on medical leave after undergoing major spinal surgery.”
McMahon’s leave began July 21, and he will “remain on medical leave until further notice but will remain Executive Chairman” of WWE, the company said in its quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Reached for comment Wednesday, the company said it believes the subpoena and search warrant are “a continuation of the investigation that commenced last summer. WWE has cooperated throughout and fully understands and respects the government’s need for a complete process.”
McMahon, in a separate statement, told CNBC: “I have always denied any intentional wrongdoing and continue to do so. I am confident that the government’s investigation will be resolved without any findings of wrongdoing.”
In April, WWE agreed to merge with rival UFC to form a new publicly traded company controlled by Endeavor Group.

WWE and Endeavor both expect the deal to close in the second half of this year, WWE said Wednesday.
The search warrant and subpoena on July 17 came a year after news first broke that federal prosecutors and the SEC were investigating WWE and McMahon over his payments to women.

Vince McMahon (R) and Donald Trump attend a press conference about the WWE at the Austin Straubel International Airport on June 22, 2009 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Mark A. Wallenfang | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

WWE noted in the SEC filing Wednesday that it “has received voluntary and compulsory legal demands for documents, including from federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies, concerning the investigation and related subject matters.”
McMahon’s wife, Linda, who previously was CEO of WWE, served in former President Donald Trump’s Cabinet as administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
McMahon’s federal search warrant and grand jury subpoena were disclosed just a day after Trump, a longtime friend of McMahon’s, was himself indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., on serious felony charges related to his efforts to reverse his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

CNBC Politics

Read more of CNBC’s politics coverage:

WWE on Wednesday said that during the three and and six months ended June 30, “the Company incurred $5.3 million and $7.1 million, respectively, of expenses related to costs incurred” in connection with a separate investigation by a special committee created by the company’s board.
McMahon has agreed to reimburse WWE for “all reasonable costs incurred in connection” with the special committee’s work, the company said.
“To date, Mr. McMahon has paid approximately $17.4 million to reimburse the Company for costs that have been incurred and paid by the Company,” the filing said.
It is not clear how much more McMahon will have to reimburse WWE beyond that amount.
“As previously disclosed, the Special Committee investigation was completed during the fourth quarter of 2022. However, related government investigations remain ongoing,” the company said. More

International buyers purchased 14% fewer U.S. homes in the past year, the least since the National Association of Realtors began tracking the statistic in 2009.
But the median price of homes they purchased was $396,400, the highest the Realtors ever recorded.

International buyers are pulling back from the U.S. housing market, as high mortgage rates, soaring home prices, a meager supply of homes for sale and a strong dollar all make the purchases much less financially attractive.  
From April of last year to this March, international buyers bought roughly 84,600 homes; that’s the lowest number since the National Association of Realtors began tracking such purchases in 2009 and a 14% drop from the year before.

related investing news

And while overseas buyers bought fewer homes, they paid more for them. The median price of homes they purchased was $396,400, the highest the Realtors ever recorded.
China, Mexico, Canada, India and Colombia were the top five countries of origin for international buyers of existing homes by number of houses, not dollar volume. The survey does not count new construction, where international buyers are also active. 
Chinese buyers had the highest average purchase price, at $1.23 million, likely because a third of them bought in California, where home prices are highest. In total, 15% of foreign buyers bought homes worth more than $1 million.
“Home purchases from Chinese buyers increased after China relaxed the world’s strictest pandemic lockdown policy, while buyers from India were helped by the country’s strong GDP growth,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a press release. “A stronger Mexican peso against the U.S. dollar likely contributed to the rise in sales from Mexican buyers.”
While foreign sales dropped overall, Chinese purchases did make sizable gains. The total of 2023 Chinese home purchases is the highest since 2018, which was one of the peak years for Chinese international property purchasing, according to Juwai IQI, an Asia-based international real estate technology group.

“Only about one in every 10 Chinese buyers is purchasing purely as an investment, which is a big change from the mid-2010s, when wealthy Chinese consumers looked to diversify their wealth out of China,” said Kashif Ansari, Juwai IQI co-founder and group CEO. “In 2023, the typical Chinese buyer is no longer an offshore investor but is on their way towards becoming an American resident and citizen.”
Foreign buyers continue to flock to the same places as they have in the past, namely Florida (23%), California (12%), Texas (12%), North Carolina (4%), Arizona (4%) and Illinois (4%). Chinese buyers in particular like California, as they often buy so that their children can attend local schools and universities.  
“Florida, Texas and Arizona continue to attract foreign buyers despite the hot weather conditions during the summer and the significant spike in home prices that began a few years ago,” Yun added.
About 42% of foreign buyers used cash. As for why they are buying, half purchased the properties for use as a vacation home, rental property or both, up from 44% the previous year.
The drop in overall foreign purchases is unlikely to ease the competition for domestic buyers, as international buyers only made up a little more than 2% of all buyers. But it could help on the margins in certain local markets favored most by foreign buyers.
Today’s domestic buyers, however, are more concerned with mortgage rates, which are more than twice what they were in the first two years of the pandemic, and with the meager supply of homes for sale. More

Humana shares rose after the health insurer said medical costs came in lower than expected in its second-quarter earnings report. 
The results ease investor concerns after Humana and UnitedHealth Group warned that a surge in demand for nonurgent surgeries and outpatient services among seniors was driving up claims. 
Both companies now suggest the uptick may be abating. 

A Humana office in Louisville, Kentucky, July 31, 2023.
Jon Cherry | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Humana shares rose Wednesday after the health insurer said medical costs came in lower than expected during its second-quarter earnings report.
The results ease investor concerns two months after Humana and rival UnitedHealth Group warned that a surge in demand for nonurgent surgeries and outpatient services among seniors was driving up claims. 

related investing news

Both companies — the two biggest providers of Medicare Advantage plans for people ages 65 and above — have now suggested the uptick may be abating. 
Humana reported a medical loss ratio, the percentage of premiums it spends on medical care, of 86.3% for the second quarter. Analysts had estimated that ratio would be 86.5%, according to Refinitiv data.
Humana highlighted a “stabilizing Medicare Advantage utilization environment” based on the most recent claims activity, without elaborating.
The company said in June it expected its second-quarter medical loss ratio to be toward the top range of its full-year outlook of 86.3% to 87.3%. Humana reiterated that full-year guidance Wednesday.
Humana’s stock rose 5% in morning trading Wednesday. Shares are down about 5% for the year after the broader health-care sector took a beating in June, putting the company’s market value at around $60 billion. More

Ford U.S. sales rose 5.9% in July from the prior year.
F-series pickup sales rose 8.2%, but sales of the electric Lightning model dropped more than 28%.

Ford Motor Co. fuel powered F-150 trucks under production at their Truck Plant in Dearborn, Michigan on September 20, 2022.
Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images

Ford Motor said that its U.S. sales rose 5.9% in July from a year ago, as demand for its pickup trucks and the Bronco SUV more than offset a slump in EV deliveries.
The Detroit automaker on Wednesday reported new vehicle sales of 173,639 in the U.S. for the month, up from a strong 163,942 a year ago as it was recovering from pandemic-era supply-chain challenges.  

related investing news

21 hours ago

2 days ago

Sales of Ford’s F-Series pickups, an important profit driver, rose 8.2% in the month to 68,536. But sales of the electric F-150 Lightning dropped more than 28% from a year ago, to just 1,552 trucks, after the company shut down the Lightning’s factory for six weeks to install production upgrades.
The Lightning’s factory reopened earlier this week. Ford said on Tuesday that orders for the Lightning had jumped sixfold after price cuts in mid-July.
The company said that it anticipates Lightning sales will be slow through mid-September as it rebuilds dealer inventories of the model, but that it expects to build more than 70,000 Lightnings in 2023. Through July, Ford delivered just 10,309 Lightnings to U.S. customers.
The factory upgrades will give Ford the capacity to produce 150,000 Lightnings per year once they’re fully up and running this fall.
Sales of the electric Mustang Mach-E were also fell in July by nearly 21%, following a separate factory shutdown and upgrade earlier this year. But sales of Ford’s other EV, the E-Transit commercial van, rose over 50% to 791 units in July.

Ford said last week that it expects its EV unit, called Ford Model e, to lose $4.5 billion in 2023 as it spends heavily to ramp up to a production rate of 600,000 EVs annually sometime in 2024.
While Ford has been working through production issues with its electric models, its internal-combustion and hybrid models have continued to generate strong results and profits. Sales of the Bronco SUV climbed over 20% in July, to 12,755, and sales of the smaller Ranger and Maverick pickups rose 8.6% and 13.5%, respectively, from a year ago.
U.S. sales of all Ford vehicles, including EVs and Lincoln-brand models, totaled 1,181,207 through July, up 9.4% from the same period in 2022. More

CVS Health on Wednesday reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations.
CVS has implemented a cost-cutting program as it pushes deeper into health-care services in the wake of two costly acquisitions.
Part of that effort calls for cutting 5,000 jobs, CNBC reported Tuesday.

A customer exits a CVS Health Corp. store in Oakland, California, U.S., on Friday, Aug. 2, 2019.
Michael Short | Bloomberg | Getty Images

CVS Health on Wednesday reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations, as the company slashes costs and lays off thousands of employees.
CVS has implemented a cost-cutting program as it pushes deeper into health-care services in the wake of its $8 billion acquisition of Signify Health and its $10.6 billion purchase of Oak Street Health.

related investing news

17 hours ago

2 days ago

Part of that effort calls for cutting 5,000 jobs, CNBC reported Tuesday.
Here’s what CVS recorded for its second quarter compared with Wall Street’s expectations, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share: $2.21 adjusted, vs. $2.11 expected
Revenue: $88.9 billion, vs. $86.5 billion expected

The health-care giant posted net income of $1.91 billion for the quarter, or $1.48 per share, a 37% decline from the same period in 2022 when CVS reported net income of $3.04 billion, or $2.29 per share. Excluding one-time items, CVS reported $2.21 per share for the period.
The company booked revenue of $88.9 billion for the quarter, a 10% increase compared with the year-ago period.
CVS maintained its full-year adjusted earnings guidance of $8.50 to $8.70 per share, after slashing its projections by 20 cents last quarter due to costs associated with its recent acquisitions.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest health coverage:

The company’s health services segment generated $46.22 billion in revenue, a 7.6% increase compared with the same quarter in 2022. The division includes the pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark and health-care services delivered in medical clinics, via telehealth and at home.
CVS’ retail pharmacy division generated $28.78 billion in sales, also 7.6% higher than the year ago-period, driven by increased prescription volume. The number of prescriptions filled rose 2.4% on a 30-day basis compared with the same quarter last year, excluding Covid-19 vaccinations. Same-store prescription volume jumped nearly 5% compared with the same quarter in 2022, excluding Covid vaccines.
The company’s health insurance segment generated $26.75 billion, a 17.6% increase over the second quarter of 2022. That division includes Aetna plans for the Affordable Care Act, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, and dental and vision.
The insurance segment’s medical benefit ratio — a measure of total medical expenses paid relative to premiums collected — rose to 86.2% in the quarter, compared with 82.7% in the year-ago period. A lower ratio typically indicates that the company collected more in premiums than it paid out in benefits, resulting in higher profitability. More

Ferrari on Wednesday said that its second-quarter profit jumped 33% from a year ago as more of its customers chose costly “personalization” options for their new sports cars.
Ferrari in recent years has greatly extended its options lists, offering its customers a huge range of choices in paint finishes, interior materials and other details.
Ferrari raised its guidance for the full year following the strong results.

Ferrari Original Factory Entrance
Courtesy: Ferrari

Ferrari on Wednesday said that its second-quarter profit jumped 33% from a year ago as more of its customers chose costly “personalization” options for their new sports cars.
Ferrari also raised its guidance for the full year following the results.

related investing news

15 hours ago

The company now expects 2023 revenue of about 5.8 billion euros and per-share profit of between 6.25 and 6.40 euros. It had previously guided investors to full-year revenue of about 5.7 billion euros and per-share profit between 6.00 and 6.20 euros. It maintained earlier guidance for an adjusted EBIT margin of more than 26%.
“We continue to manage a very strong order book in all geographies,” CEO Benedetto Vigna said in a statement. “The decision to revise the guidance upwards was supported in particular by stunning results in personalizations.”
Ferrari in recent years has greatly extended its options lists, offering its customers a huge range of choices in paint finishes, interior materials and other details. Those extended options, which the company calls “personalizations,” can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price of a new Ferrari.
Ferrari reported profit of 334 million euros, or 1.83 euros per share, an increase of 33% over profit of 251 million euros, or 1.36 euros per share, during the same period a year earlier.
Revenue increased 14% year over year to 1.47 billion euros.

Ferrari’s margin on earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to 29.7% in the quarter, up from 25% a year ago. The increase in profitability was driven by the jump in personalizations as well as sales of higher-end and limited-edition models, Ferrari said.

Ferrari Purosangue
Source: Ferrari

Ferrari shipped 3,392 vehicles in the second quarter, down slightly (1.8%, or 63 cars) from a year ago. Ferrari said the decline was due to “geographic and mix allocation plans;” on a year-over-year basis, deliveries were up in Europe, slightly lower in China, and down by double-digits in North and South America.  
Those deliveries included the first examples of the Purosangue, Ferrari’s new SUV-like vehicle, which entered full production in the quarter. Deliveries were primarily driven by strong results for the 296 GTB, a six-cylinder hybrid sports car, and the V-8 powered Roma coupe and Portofino M convertible, Ferrari said.
Ferrari’s hybrid models, including the 296 GTB and the V-8 powered SF90, accounted for 43% of its second-quarter shipments, more than double its year-ago result. More