BioNTech to Buy CureVac for $1.25 Billion to Boost Cancer Arm
CureVac investors will get approximately $5.46 in BioNTech shares for each CureVac one, the companies said Thursday. The price represents a 34% premium to CureVac's closing share price on Wednesday. CureVac shareholders will own between 4% and 6% of BioNTech once the deal closes.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
6 hours ago
- Boston Globe
In one of the country's poorest states, crippling budget cuts loom
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'You couldn't design a budget-reconciliation package that would be worse for the state of New Mexico,' Sen. Martin Heinrich said at a health care forum. Advertisement But after years of robust federal spending in the state, some Republican legislators, who are in the minority in both chambers, are predicting that the new domestic policy bill will help root out waste and provide some tax relief. 'Just take a deep breath,' said state Rep. Mark Duncan, a Republican who sits on a new legislative subcommittee on federal funding. 'This is not going to happen tomorrow, for the most part.' The state estimates that it will lose $2.8 billion annually in Medicaid funding, and as much as $352 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which helps low-income families buy groceries. Six to eight rural hospitals could close within the next 24 months. Advertisement And out of roughly 22,000 jobs in state government, more than 2,000 are wholly funded by the federal government, while an additional 3,800 are partially funded, Wayne Propst, secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration, told the funding subcommittee. To be sure, state budgets around the country have been generally strong of late thanks to billions in COVID-19 relief money and a record-breaking stock market. New Mexico has also been buoyed by robust oil and gas revenues. But few sectors of the state will be untouched. The Santa Fe Farmers' Market. MERIDITH KOHUT/NYT Manny Encinias, a cattle rancher and longtime vendor at the Santa Fe Farmers' Market, said some of his customers paid with SNAP food tokens. 'Suddenly, the rug has been pulled out from beneath us,' he said. For now, here's how some New Mexicans are sizing up the new normal: Medicaid and SNAP The New Mexico Health Care Authority, which administers Medicaid and SNAP, estimates that 88,000 residents could lose Medicaid, and 58,000 could lose SNAP. Many officials are worried about bureaucratic snarls and widespread confusion. Paulina Verduzco, 20, a restaurant host in Santa Fe, is already experiencing whiplash. After being uninsured for two years, Verduzco was recently approved for Medicaid. But a few weeks ago, she received a $300 bill for a one-hour intake call, done over Zoom. Panicked, she talked to a case worker and was told it was a mistake. She was also approved for SNAP, and on a recent Saturday at the Santa Fe Farmers' Market, she used her food tokens for the first time. She and her aunt purchased plants for cherry tomatoes, poblano peppers and lemon cucumbers to grow in their own tiny garden. Advertisement But two weeks later, Verduzco received a text informing her that she would no longer be receiving SNAP because she wasn't working enough hours -- even though she has been asking her employer for more hours. She is not sure if the cutoff was a result of the new federal policy, but work requirements are about to become even more stringent. 'You aren't making enough money to receive government money -- make that make sense,' Verduzco said. Gutting SNAP could squeeze the state's Double Up Food Bucks initiative, which enables recipients to buy fresh local produce at half the price, and bolsters ranchers and farmers, said Encinias, who owns Trilogy Beef and Buffalo Creek Ranch in Moriarty, and is also executive director of the Santa Fe Farmers' Market Institute. 'We're going to be impacted significantly,' he said. Nonprofit groups, which have often provided aid that supplemented government programs, are also under pressure. A recent survey of 200 nonprofits commissioned by three New Mexico foundations reported that 20% received at least half of their funding from federal grants -- grants that are now in jeopardy. The Food Depot, which serves northern New Mexico, has already announced that its Regional Farm to Food Bank program is ending. 'Make absolutely no mistake,' Jill Dixon, the group's executive director, said at a recent community meeting. 'The charitable food system cannot compensate for the loss that we are facing.' US Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico. Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Public Lands In a state nicknamed the Land of Enchantment for its striking landscapes and cultural history, outdoor recreation provided 29,000 jobs and generated $3.2 billion in economic impact in 2023. Advertisement To operate on lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service, it is necessary to have permits, adequate access points and working restrooms and campgrounds, said Nick Streit, whose father opened the Taos Fly Shop in 1980. But among the federal workers who lost their jobs in the first rounds of layoffs were several who worked on recreation and permitting. Those workers, Streit said, usually bought their waders and other outdoor equipment at local businesses and supported the local guide industry by maintaining standards. 'Those permits are important, because when members of the public come and they hire somebody, they know they're safe, they have insurance, they have training,' said Streit, who is also the executive director of Friends of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Will Blackstock, who owns Far Flung Adventures, which offers white-water rafting trips on the Rio Grande, said that at the beginning of this summer, 'things were looking very bleak' as a result of the federal budget and staffing cuts, with a significant reduction in the number of river rangers who patrol the nearby Rio Chama, a major tributary of the Rio Grande. One more ranger has been added back since then. 'It's far less than the river program needs, but it is better than we thought it was going to be,' Blackstock said. Conservation group leaders said they were relieved that a plan by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to sell millions of acres of public lands was abandoned after intense pushback, including from many of Trump's supporters. Advertisement But Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins did rescind a long-standing rule prohibiting road construction and timber harvesting in remote areas of federal forests, which conservationists fear will threaten vulnerable species and compromise wilderness values on public lands. The announcement was made in Santa Fe. 'We are so on edge right now, I can't even tell you,' said Garrett VeneKlasen, the northern conservation director of the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. Natural Disasters In New Mexico, concerns often turn to the basics: fire and water. Summers are drier now and extreme heat more frequent, heightening wildfire concerns. Jane Lumsden, whose family has long owned a natural foods store in Las Vegas, New Mexico, lost her custom-built home in the devastating Calf Canyon-Hermit's Peak blaze in 2022. But she is grateful to the experts who predicted the fire's path and to the emergency responders who kept residents regularly apprised of fire dangers. Otherwise, she said, 'People most certainly would have died.' Now, as her family incorporates timber salvaged from their burned home to rebuild across the street, she is worried that the federal cuts could affect reforestation efforts and could make it more difficult to fill thousands of vacant firefighter jobs. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also lost a quarter of its full-time staff since Trump took office. 'Climate and natural disasters are accelerating and without these kinds of warning systems and support, we will be at risk,' she said. 'Look what happened in Texas.' About 60 miles to the northwest in Chimayo, Champe Green, an elected member of the Santa Fe-Pojoaque Soil and Water Conservation District, worries often about the earthen Cañada De Ancha Dam, one of the state's most dangerous. Advertisement Champe Green near the earthen Canada De Ancha Dam in Chimayo, N.M. MERIDITH KOHUT/NYT Built 60 years ago, the dam has retention ponds that are now so choked with sediment that any significant rainfall could cause overflowing or breaching. An estimated 1,000 people, many of them poor and working-class, live within the potential flood area, according to the federal Department of Agriculture. The state has pledged $8 million to remove the sediment. That funding is contingent, however, on a federal match of roughly $11 million. Congress is considering the appropriation of up to $7 million in watershed rehabilitation funding for the next fiscal year -- for the entire country. 'There's not enough to pay for our one little project, much less all the projects around the country,' said Green, a retired biologist and ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service and the Army Corps of Engineers. And now it is monsoon season. 'If we got 2 inches in an hour, that would be scary,' he said. 'If we had 4 inches in 24 hours, I'd be scared to death.' Arts, Culture and Native Americans Robert K. Meya, general director of the Santa Fe Opera, has his own concerns related to wildfire threats. The opera's annual insurance rates doubled from 2024 to 2025. With its open-air productions each summer, performed against a breathtaking desert backdrop, the opera has installed air-quality sensors to gauge whether it is safe to perform. 'If you cut off the funding for the Forest Service and you're not maintaining these forests correctly,' Meya said, 'then the possibility for a fire will only increase significantly.' Apprentices rehearsed at the Santa Fe Opera. MERIDITH KOHUT/NYT In recent months, a $55,000 federal grant for this summer's premiere of Richard Wagner's 'Die Walküre' has been rescinded (though it is being appealed). And $100,000 spent on installing solar panels, which previously would have been eligible for tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, may never be recouped. Similar concerns weigh on organizations catering to the arts, education and Native Americans. Rose Eason, a board member of Creative New Mexico, an arts advocacy nonprofit, said at least $1.5 million in federal grants earmarked for two dozen organizations statewide had been terminated. Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute -- one of only two federally run colleges for Native Americans -- is facing a proposed 83% cut in federal funding. And the impending cuts to public broadcasting could shrink funding by 20% for KSUT, one of the country's first tribal radio stations. It provides Indigenous news, music and emergency alerts to rural northwestern New Mexico. 'It's one giant ecosystem,' Meya said. 'No one is immune.' This article originally appeared in
New York Post
7 hours ago
- New York Post
Financial expert warns young Americans against ‘buy now, pay later' plans as shopping tactic growing in popularity
'Buy now, pay later' plans are rapidly growing in popularity among young Americans, but not everyone is convinced they're a smart financial choice. Haley Sacks, a personal finance influencer with over a million followers online, issued a chilling warning about BNPL plans on 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday, calling the practice 'predatory.' Advertisement 'My take is that you should not use 'buy now, pay later' at all,' Sacks said. 'If you need to finance something, use a credit card and a lot of credit card companies have 'pay over time' options with 0% interest.' Sacks argued credit cards offer important benefits BNPL plans don't, such as consumer protection and the opportunity to build credit. 'Buy now, pay later' services let buyers split purchases into multiple installments instead of paying the full price upfront. However, if users aren't careful to make payments on time, they may face late fees. Advertisement 3 'Buy now, pay later' plans are rapidly growing in popularity among young Americans, where buyers pay with multiple installments instead of the full price upfront. Bloomberg via Getty Images 3 Haley Sacks, a personal finance influencer with over a million followers online, warns against the practice, calling it 'predatory,' and saying that it doesn't offer benefits like consumer protection that credit cards do. fizkes – They're expected to hit record transaction volumes this year after initially being marketed as lower-risk alternatives to credit cards. But financial experts warn that reliance on these payment plans can lead to overspending and a rapid accumulation of debt if consumers aren't on top of them. A LendingTree survey from April found that more Americans are using BNPL services for everyday essentials like groceries, and that 40% of users admitted to missing a payment on at least one loan in the past year. Advertisement 3 Experts say the plans can lead to overspending and debt if consumers aren't on time with payments. Bloomberg via Getty Images Factors that could be leading to the shift are elevated prices, high interest rates, and student loan payments, which resumed less than two years ago after a stop during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sacks says these factors are part of why these types of deferred payment plans have resonated with a struggling generation of young people. Advertisement 'Gen Z is facing so much inflation, wages have not kept up, and this is a way to actually be able to get things that you want,' she said. 'But of course, then you're paying the price.' According to the LendingTree survey of 2,000 consumers aged 18 to 79, nearly half of American adults have used a BNPL service such as Klarna or Affirm. Millennials made up the largest share, but Gen Z and Gen X weren't far behind.
Miami Herald
10 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Peloton delivers harsh message to employees amid sales declines
Peloton experienced massive growth during the COVID-19 lockdowns, reaching record-high sales, subscriptions, and stock value. Despite being founded just seven years earlier, it quickly became a pandemic-era success story. However, the momentum didn't last forever. As restrictions eased and gyms reopened, the demand for at-home workout equipment declined sharply, causing Peloton's business to struggle since 2021. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter To rebound from these alarming declines and stabilize its business, the company has aggressively reduced costs. In fiscal 2025, Peloton cut overall expenses by 25%, scaling back spending on sales, marketing, research and development, and administrative functions. It also closed 24 of its 37 retail showrooms, shrinking its physical footprint to 13 locations by the end of the fourth quarter. Related: Peloton CEO believes cost-cutting can help reverse slide Last year, Peloton took even more drastic steps by laying off around 15% of its global workforce to align its spending with its revenue. The cost-cutting continued into the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, during which the company trimmed expenses by 20% and slashed its debt by 43%. After months of budget restructuring and layoffs, these efforts have begun to show improvements in Peleton's business. Peloton (PTON) beat analysts' expectations and its own in its latest quarter, reporting a net income of $21.6 million, compared to a loss of $30.5 million the year prior. However, rebuilding a multi-million-dollar business is no easy task, and challenges remain. More Retail News: Tariffs will cost the liquor industry over $2 billion in salesApplebee's hits first major milestone since 2023 after sales declinesStarbucks plans major change to how it adds new menu items The company's total revenue dropped 6% year over year, driven by lower sales and deliveries, with Paid Connect Fitness Subscriptions decreasing 6%. While Peloton has been progressing towards stability, these results show that more cuts are necessary to keep its business alive, which led it to make another difficult decision. Peloton announced it will lay off around 6% of its workforce as part of its restructuring plan to minimize costs, as the expenses have begun to take a toll on the company's ability to invest in its future. "Our operating expenses remain too high, which hinders our ability to invest in our future," Peloton wrote in its shareholder letter. "Today, we are launching a cost restructuring plan intended to achieve at least $100 million of run-rate savings by the end of FY26 by reducing the size of our global team, paring back indirect spend, and relocating some of our work." Related: Peloton creates new way for consumers to get cheaper equipment This move aligns with a wave of recent layoffs in the U.S. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, 62,075 jobs were cut in July, up 29% from June and 140% higher than last year. So far this year, companies have announced over 806,000 job cuts, the highest since July 2020. Peloton ended its letter stating, "This is not a decision we came to lightly, as it impacts many talented team members, but we believe it is necessary for the long-term health of our business." Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
