Germany's BioNTech to buy CureVac to boost cancer research
Germany's BioNTech is buying domestic rival CureVac for $1.25 billion, the companies said Thursday, bringing together two pharmaceutical firms specialised in mRNA technology with the goal of advancing cancer treatments.
BioNTech, which developed the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the West along with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, said the acquisition would "bring together complementary capabilities and leverage technologies".
Both biotech companies have been working for years in the area of mRNA vaccines and treatments, which provoke an immune response by delivering genetic molecules containing the code for key parts of a pathogen into human cells.
While the technology became well known in relation to some Covid-19 vaccines, it is also being used in other areas, and scientists believe it could be a game-changer against many diseases.
BioNTech said the acquisition of CureVac would help boost its work in the field of mRNA-based cancer immunotherapy -- treatment that uses the body's own immune system to fight diseases.
"This transaction is another building block in BioNTech's oncology strategy and an investment in the future of cancer medicine," said BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin.
It was aimed at "establishing new standards of care for various types of cancer in the coming years," he said.
Alexander Zehnder, CEO of CureVac, said the purchase would bring scientific expertise, technology and manufacturing know-how "in the mRNA field under one roof".
BioNTech's all-stock acquisition has been unanimously approved by the companies' management and supervisory boards, and is expected to close in 2025, subject to certain conditions including regulatory approvals.
Both companies are listed on the Nasdaq Composite Index.
They had both sought to develop Covid-19 vaccines during the pandemic, with Mainz-based BioNTech's Comirnaty jab winning approval and going on to become one of the most widely used shots against the virus around the world.
But Tuebingen-based CureVac, founded 25 years ago by mRNA pioneer Ingmar Hoerr, abandoned its efforts in late 2021 after disappointing trial results.
In 2022, CureVac sued BioNTech for patent infringement over its rival's use of the technology.
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Trump clears path for Nippon Steel investment in US Steel, so long as it fits the government's terms
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order paving the way for a Nippon Steel investment in U.S. Steel, so long as the Japanese company complies with a 'national security agreement' submitted by the federal government. Trump's order didn't detail the terms of the national security agreement. But the iconic American steelmaker and Nippon Steel said in a joint statement that the agreement stipulates that approximately $11 billion in new investments will be made by 2028 and includes giving the U.S. government a ' golden share" — essentially veto power to ensure the country's national security interests are protected against cutbacks in steel production. 'We thank President Trump and his Administration for their bold leadership and strong support for our historic partnership," the two companies said. "This partnership will bring a massive investment that will support our communities and families for generations to come. We look forward to putting our commitments into action to make American steelmaking and manufacturing great again.' The companies have completed a U.S. Department of Justice review and received all necessary regulatory approvals, the statement said. 'The partnership is expected to be finalized promptly,' the statement said. U.S. Steel rose $2.66, or 5%, to $54.85 in afterhours trading Friday. Nippon Steel's original bid to buy the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel in late 2023 had been valued at $55 per share. The companies offered few details on how the golden share would work, what other provisions are in the national security agreement and how specifically the $11 billion would be spent. White House spokesman Kush Desai said the order 'ensures U.S. Steel will remain in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and be safeguarded as a critical element of America's national and economic security.' James Brower, a Morrison Foerster lawyer who represents clients in national security-related matters, said such agreements with the government typically are not disclosed to the public, particularly by the government. They can become public, but it's almost always disclosed by a party in the transaction, such as a company — like U.S. Steel — that is publicly held, Brower said. The mechanics of how a golden share would work will depend on the national security agreement, but in such agreements it isn't unusual to give the government approval rights over specific activities, Brower said. U.S. Steel made no filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Nippon Steel originally offered nearly $15 billion to purchase U.S. Steel in an acquisition that had been delayed on national security concerns starting during Joe Biden's presidency. 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Trump said Thursday that he would as president have 'total control' of what U.S. Steel did as part of the investment. Trump said then that the deal would preserve '51% ownership by Americans,' although Nippon Steel has never backed off its stated intention of buying and controlling U.S. Steel as a wholly owned subsidiary. 'We have a golden share, which I control,' Trump said. Trump added that he was 'a little concerned' about what presidents other than him would do with their golden share, 'but that gives you total control.' The proposed merger had been under review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, during the Trump and Biden administrations. The order signed Friday by Trump said the CFIUS review provided 'credible evidence' that Nippon Steel 'might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,' but such risks might be 'adequately mitigated' by approving the proposed national security agreement. The order doesn't detail the perceived national security risk and only provides a timeline for the national security agreement. The White House declined to provide details on the terms of the agreement. The order said the draft agreement was submitted to U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel on Friday. The two companies must successfully execute the agreement as decided by the Treasury Department and other federal agencies that are part CFIUS by the closing date of the transaction.
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Clarifying claims about Missouri schools asking students for menstrual cycle information
In mid-2025, social media users alleged that Missouri schools were requesting students' menstrual cycle histories. The claim appeared to originate from Democratic state Rep. Elizabeth Fuchs, who said during a YouTube interview that in a "casual conversation" an acquaintance expressed surprise that their child's high school band registration form included a request for the child's menstrual cycle history. At least one Missouri high school did ask students about their menstrual cycle histories. However, the school, Southern Boone High School in Ashland, Missouri, said the inclusion of the questions was a mistake by a third-party contractor, Ohio-based FinalForms, which helps coordinate some — but not all — Missouri school activity forms. The Missouri State High School Activities Association acknowledged that its set of registration forms distributed to schools in 2025 included menstrual cycle history questions, but said that section was solely intended for primary care providers as guidance for physical exams. According to the association, schools are not supposed to collect that information, but only a section pertaining to medical eligibility to participate in activities. In the case of Southern Boone, the association said the website FinalForms set up for the collection of student medical eligibility form information accidentally included the primary care provider section. FinalForms did not admit fault, but said in a statement that the company does not create or mandate form content and that "sensitive medical data" is controlled by school administrations, not FinalForms. In mid-2025, a rumor spread online that Missouri schools were requesting students' menstrual cycle histories. Allegations circulated on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Threads and Facebook. Some claims specifically said a Missouri high school band program asked female students for menstrual cycle data. Snopes readers also searched our website for information on Missouri schools or the aforementioned band program "asking," "tracking" or "requiring" menstrual cycle information from students. It is true that at least one Missouri high school, Southern Boone High School in Ashland, Missouri, asked students for menstrual cycle information in an online set of activity registration questions in 2025. However, both Southern Boone and the Missouri State High School Activities Association, the state's governing body for high school activities, said the request for menstrual cycle history was included on these forms due to a mistake on the part of FinalForms, a third-party contractor based in Ohio that provides some, but not all, Missouri schools with websites for coordinating activity registration and other data. In a statement shared in a LinkedIn message, a spokesperson for FinalForms did not acknowledge any mistakes and said the company does not mandate or create form content. MSHSAA's director, Jennifer Rukstad, told Snopes in an email that although the association's official set of registration forms includes questions about menstrual cycles, those questions — and the pages they are on — are meant as guidance for a primary care provider's physical exam and schools are not supposed to collect answers to them. It was unclear how widespread this issue was, as Rukstad said MSHSAA only knew of one school that provided an erroneous form. As such, we are not providing a rating to this claim. Snopes previously confirmed that Florida's high school athletics association voted to recommend that schools require student athletes to turn in their menstrual histories. The claim appeared to first circulate widely through a June 2 TikTok video by Missouri resident Suzie Wilson. In the video, which had nearly 120,000 views as of this writing, Wilson said the issue "was brought to my attention" by Democratic state Rep. Elizabeth Fuchs. Fuchs told Snopes via a phone call that she first heard about these allegations in a "very casual conversation with an acquaintance." That acquaintance, a parent at an unidentified Missouri school, did not wish to be named; Fuchs declined to name them or the school to respect that wish. Fuchs said her acquaintance was "taken aback" that the form for high school band registration asked for information about their child's menstrual cycle. The Missouri representative later mentioned this conversation in an interview with progressive news content creator Jeremiah Patterson, who then claimed on May 31 that a Missouri high school band program "is requiring students to hand over menstruation information." "He kept saying 'required, required,'" Fuchs said. "I corrected that in part two of the interview. The parent I talked to said she did not fill out that part of the form and was still able to submit it." Patterson said via email that his main source on the story was Wilson, who told him an unnamed parent said students must fill out "some sort of response" for the menstrual cycle disclosure question. Wilson shared the same information in a phone call with Snopes. Wilson also clarified to Snopes that she heard about the issue from Fuchs' interview with the Patterson show, not from a direct conversation with Fuchs. Wilson posted her initial video about the issue on June 2, which led parents to reach out to her on TikTok, she said. Based on the parents' comments, Wilson alleged in her second, more popular video that at least two Missouri schools used a form that requests menstruation information: Southern Boone and Lee's Summit High School, which is located in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. Wilson also told Snopes she heard from the wife of a school official at Rolla Public Schools, around 80 miles south of the Southern Boone district, that their district used the same form. A screenshot of Southern Boone's form, which Wilson provided, showed questions asking students when their first period happened, when their most recent period was and the frequency of their periods. "My big thing is for our girls just to say no," Wilson said. "Don't fill that form out." A spokesperson for the Southern Boone County R-1 School District, Matt Sharp, confirmed in an email that the district's online activity registration form included questions about menstruation history but said it was an error FinalForms made. "Questions related to menstrual cycle history are not required and should not have appeared on our activity registration forms," Sharp said, adding: "As soon as the school district became aware of the issue, we worked quickly with FinalForms to have it corrected and the unnecessary questions removed." The MSHSAA — the state's governing body for high school activities — also said the issue came from FinalForms. The official MSHSAA registration set of forms for physical activities does have questions about menstrual cycle history, but those questions are part of the "Medical History Form" meant only for the family and the student's primary care provider, said Rukstad, the association's director. Schools are not supposed to collect the first three pages of the set of forms, Rukstad said; in fact, the forms specify as much. Schools, Rukstad said, are only required to collect the last page of the MSHSAA "Preparticipation Physical Forms": the "Medical Eligibility Form" (see Page 5). That page must be completed by a primary care provider to indicate that they conducted a physical exam and the student is medically eligible to participate in activities. Rukstad said that the Medical Eligibility Form "contains no specific medical information," and Sharp specified that it does not include questions about menstrual cycle history. According to Rukstad, the website FinalForms designed to collect the medical eligibility information at Southern Boone "included the questions from pages 1 and 2 from the pre-participation physical form." "As soon as we were alerted about it, we contacted the school and Final Forms, and the error was collected a few hours later," Rukstad said. "Additionally, we sent a message to all our member schools reminding them of the process, and Final Forms sent a message to their customers in Missouri doing the same." Rukstad said that aside from Southern Boone, she was unaware of any other schools affected by the same error, but added that "if there were others," she trusted that FinalForms fixed the issue. (MSHSAA, Rukstad said, does not have a business relationship with FinalForms.) "The simple answers to your questions are, no, all high schools are not required to use Final Forms, and NO student in Missouri is required to release information regarding their menstrual cycle in order to participate in extracurricular activities," Rukstad said. A spokesperson for Rolla Public Schools, Gina Zervos, said the school uses the MSHSAA set of forms but only collects the last page, as required. "The remaining pages are used and retained by the signing physician," Zervos said, adding that the school does not use FinalForms in any capacity. Lee's Summit High School did not immediately return a request for comment. According to a representative for FinalForms, on June 3 the company sent "all Missouri customers" a statement regarding "recent questions and concerns regarding the inclusion of certain medical questions — specifically those related to the menstrual cycle — on forms used by your school or district." FinalForms did not directly acknowledge any mistake on the company's part in the statement. The company also did not return additional questions asking them to rebut or corroborate the statements from Southern Boone and MSHSAA. The statement, which a representative for the company sent to Snopes on June 11 via LinkedIn, said, "We do not create or mandate form content" and "Instead, we implement the exact forms and fields that your school or district requests — many of which are modeled after standardized state forms, such as the MSHSAA Pre-Participation Physical Evaluation," or PPE. (The PPE form is on Page 3 of the full set of registration forms from MSHSAA.) The statement also noted that schools may request to remove medical questions from FinalForms and the company "will promptly update your site to reflect" a district's decisions. Furthermore, "sensitive medical data" is controlled by the district's administration and permissions would be "granted solely by authorized school district personnel based on staff roles and responsibilities." "Band directors, coaches, or activity leaders do not have access to detailed medical data collected on the MSHSAA PPE Physical Questions form such as menstrual cycle responses," FinalForms' statement said. "We recognize and take seriously the responsibility of protecting student privacy and empowering local control over data collection practices." However, Fuchs and Wilson remained skeptical that nobody had collected the data; Fuchs pointed to a 2019 story wherein the Missouri state health director at the time testified to keeping a spreadsheet of women's periods to help identify failed abortions. "This terrifies me that we have our children's names and menstrual start dates in data somewhere. There seems to be some real discrepancy on who owns it, who might have access to it," Fuchs said, adding that her office was looking into "how, legislatively, we're able to amend this." To summarize: The Missouri State High School Activities Association's physical form does include menstrual cycle history questions, but schools within the association are not supposed to ask students for that information — that part of the form is meant as guidance for primary care providers performing physical exams on students. At least one Missouri school contracted with a third-party company, FinalForms, which the school said erroneously included those menstrual cycle history questions on the activity registration website the company built for the school. It was unclear how many other schools may have had similar situations. "FinalForms." Accessed 11 June 2025. "FinalForms." FinalForms, Southern Boone School District, Accessed 11 June 2025. Missouri State High School Activities Association. MSHSAA Preparticipation Physical Forms/Procedure. Apr. 2023, Accessed 11 June 2025. "Representative Elizabeth Fuchs." Accessed 11 June 2025. "Southern Boone High School." Accessed 11 June 2025. "Southern Boone School District." Accessed 11 June 2025. Wilson, Suzie. Menstrual Cycle Form. Accessed 11 June 2025.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Longtime spokesperson Tom Bodett sues Motel 6
The Brief Tom Bodett filed a federal lawsuit against Motel 6, claiming the chain used his voice and name without authorization after their contract ended. The dispute stems from a missed $1.2 million payment and the breakdown of a nearly 40-year partnership between Bodett and the motel brand. Motel 6's parent company, G6 Hospitality, said it was surprised by the lawsuit but expressed appreciation for Bodett's contributions. Tom Bodett, whose warm baritone and iconic line "we'll leave the light on for you" made him the voice of Motel 6 for nearly four decades, is suing the motel chain and its parent company for alleged unauthorized use of his name and voice. According to a lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, Bodett said he ended his relationship with Motel 6 after its new owner, India-based travel firm OYO, failed to make a $1.2 million annual payment due on Jan. 7. Their contract was set to expire in November. The backstory Despite the contract lapse, Bodett claims Motel 6 continued using his voice and name on its national reservation phone line. The lawsuit alleges violations of both his contract rights and federal trademark law. Bodett said he attempted to reach a confidential settlement that would honor his legacy and protect Motel 6's reputation and franchisees, but accused the company of responding with "misrepresentations, obfuscations, and delay tactics." The lawsuit seeks $1.2 million in owed compensation, along with additional damages and a share of profits. What they're saying A spokesperson for G6 Hospitality, the parent company of Motel 6, said the company was "surprised" by Bodett's lawsuit but indicated it hoped for an amicable resolution. "We appreciate Mr. Bodett's contributions over the past years," the spokesperson said. "Of course, we will continue to advertise keeping the lights on for you." Bodett, when contacted by email, told Reuters: "The complaint says all there is to say." Tom Bodett became Motel 6's lead spokesman in 1986 and said he coined the phrase "we'll leave the light on for you" during an unscripted ad-lib. His voice became synonymous with the brand's down-to-earth identity and was featured in both radio and TV campaigns for decades. In addition to his advertising work, Bodett is known for his appearances on National Public Radio and for narrating several Ken Burns documentaries. What's next The lawsuit, Bodett et al v G6 Hospitality LLC et al, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It could set a notable precedent for voice usage and contract rights in long-term brand relationships, especially as companies change ownership. The Source This report is based on original reporting from Reuters, which first detailed the lawsuit filed by Tom Bodett against Motel 6 and its parent company G6 Hospitality. The article includes direct quotes from legal filings and statements provided to Reuters by both Bodett and Motel 6.
