AstraZeneca agrees to research deal worth up to $5.22 billion with CSPC
(Reuters) -AstraZeneca said on Friday it has agreed to a research deal with Chinese drugmaker CSPC Pharmaceuticals worth up to $5.22 billion to focus on AI-enabled initiatives.
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Health Line
44 minutes ago
- Health Line
HIV: As Scientists Inch Closer to a Vaccine, Cuts to Funding Could Stall Progress
The Trump administration reportedly plans to cut almost all funding for HIV vaccine research. Experts say the decision comes at a time when research in this field is making substantial progress. Many effective treatments are available for HIV, but these are lifelong commitments that manage a chronic disease rather than cure it. Treatments for HIV infection have come a long way since the 1980s, when too many lives were lost during the epidemic. Today, antiretroviral therapies and other treatments allow people with HIV to live longer lives and, in many cases, prevent the transmission of the virus that causes the disease to other people. Scientists now say the next step in the fight is a vaccine that protects against HIV. However, that next development could be on the chopping block. Trump administration officials reportedly plan to halt funding for a wide array of HIV vaccine research. Researchers told CBS News they have been informed by officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has instructed the agency not to issue any more funding during the next fiscal year for HIV vaccine research. NIH officials said HHS officials have instead decided to 'go with currently available approaches to eliminate HIV.' The decision will close down HIV vaccine research projects at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute and the Scripps Research Institute, according to a report in the journal Science. Officials at Moderna also told CBS News that their current clinical trials on HIV vaccines have been put on hold. Experts say the decision to cut funding for an HIV vaccine is short-sighted and reckless. 'I'm stunned by this decision,' said Jake Scott, MD, a clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University in California who specializes in infectious diseases. 'There is no scientific or medical evidence to justify these cuts at the exact moment this field is showing real promise,' he told Healthline. Carl Baloney Jr., the chief executive officer-elect of AIDS United, agreed. 'Eliminating funding for HIV vaccine research undermines decades of scientific progress and turns our back on a future where HIV could be preventable for all, regardless of where someone lives, their income, or access to healthcare,' he told Healthline. Why an HIV vaccine is important Experts say that treatments for HIV are incredibly effective. However, they note that most involve daily adherence and aren't necessarily readily available or affordable for many people. 'There are a lot of good options, but they can be really expensive,' Scott said. 'These medications are also not a cure. They are a lifetime burden.' The experts add that people with low levels of HIV in their system can still have weakened immune systems. That can raise the risk of serious infections as well as inflammation that can lead to conditions such as heart disease. 'A vaccine can help prevent all this,' said Scott. Experts note that a vaccine research program may be difficult to put back together even if a new administration restored funding in the near future. They say it took decades to build these programs and restarting them would take time. In addition, researchers will leave the field of HIV prevention to set up shop in another industry that is receiving funding. 'We could lose an entire generation of scientists,' said Scott. 'This is setting the field back a decade or more at a critical time.' 'This isn't just about canceling [a] clinical trial. It's about sidelining the scientists, institutions, and community partners driving innovation forward,' added Baloney. 'These setbacks could delay the development of a successful HIV vaccine by years or even decades.' How scientists fought against HIV The first treatment for HIV was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1987. Azidothymidine (AZT) was first developed in 1964 as a treatment for cancer. It was ineffective in that usage, but in the 1980s, scientists discovered AZT could suppress HIV replication without damaging healthy cells. It helped treat people with AIDS as well as people who were HIV positive but had no symptoms. In the 1990s, other nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) were developed and approved. Laboratory tests to measure viral load and cell counts accelerated this research. From there, scientists experimented with combining drugs to help counter the HIV virus's ability to mutate and replicate. In 1996, a triple-drug therapy proved effective in thwarting HIV replication and creating a barrier against drug resistance. Since then, these antiretroviral drugs have become more effective and more available. The effectiveness of these medications is nothing short of miraculous. In the 1980s, the average life expectancy after an AIDS diagnosis was one year. Today, people who adhere to combination antiretroviral drug therapies can expect to live a near-normal life span. In some cases, the medications can reduce the HIV viral load in a person to the point where the virus is undetectable and can't be transmitted to another person. How is HIV treated today? More than 50 types of HIV medications are now approved for use. Some of the more commonly used antiretroviral medications are: Combination NRTI drugs that include Truvada and Descovy. These medications work by preventing HIV from converting its RNA into DNA. This prevents the virus from making copies of itself.. Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) that include Vocabria and Biktarvy. These drugs work by blocking an enzyme that HIV uses to put HIV DNA into human DNA inside cells. Protease inhibitors (PIs) such as Lexiva and Crixivan. These medications work by blocking an enzyme that HIV needs as part of its life cycle. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) that include Intelence and Viramune. These drugs work by preventing the HIV virus from making copies of itself. Entry inhibitors such as Fuzeon and Selzentry. These medications work by blocking HIV from entering CD4 T cells. In addition, there are drugs known as Cytochrome P4503A (CYP3A) inhibitors, such as Tybost and Norvir, that help boost the levels of HIV medications in the bloodstream. There are also medications known as post-attachment inhibitors that when used with antiretroviral drugs can help prevent HIV from entering immune cells. Trogarzo was the first of these drugs to become available, having been approved in 2018. In addition, there are attachment inhibitor medications, a newer form of HIV drug that works by attaching to a viral protein, which prevents that protein from entering healthy T cells. Only one type of this medication, Rubokia, is currently available, having been approved in 2020. Most people with HIV are given medications, but there also are long-acting injections that are given once a month or once every other month. Scott said these treatments are cures that have turned HIV into a 'managed chronic disease' to the point where he and other colleagues now refer to AIDS as 'advanced HIV.' Baloney said, however, there are limits to how much treatments can do. 'Current treatments and prevention tools have transformed HIV into a manageable chronic condition, but they are not a cure and they're not accessible to everyone,' he said. 'An HIV vaccine would be a game-changer, especially for communities facing systemic barriers to care.' Preventive measures for HIV Even with the available treatments, experts agree that it's better for a person if they don't contract HIV in the first place. They say condom use, along with dental dams and gloves, can be effective barriers to contracting HIV. Limiting sexual partners is also recommended, as are sterile needles for intravenous drug users. Getting tested for HIV is also an important component. It's estimated that more than 1 million people in the United States have HIV, and 13% of them don't know they have contracted the virus. There are medications available that can be taken as a precaution or after potential exposure to HIV. These drugs include: Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP): These medications can be taken as a daily pill or a bimonthly injection. The first injectable PrEP drug was Apretude, which was approved by the FDA in 2021. Truvada can also be used as PrEP therapy. These medications help prevent HIV from getting a foothold in the body. Postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) drugs: These are designed to be taken within 72 hours of potential exposure to HIV. It is a pill ingested once a day for 28 days. Lenacapavir: This injectable drug has been tested in clinical trials as a potential PrEP therapy. The FDA is scheduled to vote on its approval on June 19. Experts say all these preventive measures are good practices, but they note that vaccines are still the most effective.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
3 No-Brainer Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Stocks to Buy With $200 Right Now
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have led the S&P 500 higher over the last two and a half years. These three stocks trade at relatively low valuations compared to other high-flying AI stocks. They each have meaningful upside across the board, from AI software to hardware to chip manufacturing. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › Artificial intelligence (AI) has become one of the most-talked-about topics on Wall Street over the last two and a half years. More than 40% of S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) companies have cited "AI" on their earnings calls for five straight quarters, according to FactSet Insight. Practically every business is looking at how the recent innovations and influx of spending on AI can impact just about every aspect of their business. But while AI is providing a ton of growth for some, it can be a cost center without a clear payoff for others. However, even if a company falls into the former camp, investors should be wary about overpaying for growth that could slow down as the business scales. Finding good value in AI stocks isn't easy. And if you have a limited investment budget, like $200, you'll want to make sure you're only buying the best available options. These three companies all have stocks that trade for less than $200 per share and offer excellent value for the growth potential ahead of them. All three are benefiting from the growth of AI and should play important roles in the future development of artificial intelligence and computing from here. Many investors are worried about the impact of artificial intelligence on Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) core Google Search product. Apple's Eddy Cue testified that search queries were down on its Safari browser during the month of April for the first time in 22 years, supporting the idea that AI services like ChatGPT are eating into its market share. But a decline in searches on a single browser, while surprising, isn't too concerning. AI is a bigger boost to Alphabet than a challenge. It's seen great success with its AI Overviews in search queries, which management says increase engagement while monetizing at the same level as traditional search results. It's also leveraged AI to offer new features like circle-to-search and Google Lens, which overindex toward valuable product searches. Artificial intelligence has been a massive driver of growth for Alphabet's Google Cloud business. It saw revenue climb 28% in the first quarter, with its operating margin expanding from 9.4% to 17.8%. Management said it remains supply-constrained, so strong revenue growth should continue. On top of that, Google's bigger cloud computing competitors sport even higher operating margins, so there's room to expand profits as it scales. At about $177 per share, the stock trades for about 18.5 times forward earnings expectations. That's well below comparable stocks, but Alphabet does have some regulatory pressure on its business on top of worries about how AI could negatively impact its cash flow. But with a massive cash-flowing business, an increasingly profitable cloud computing business, and a big capital return program, the stock looks very attractive at this level. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) isn't the chipmaker many people think of when they're talking about AI chip stocks. It doesn't make high-end GPUs or custom silicon solutions for AI training or inference. It makes chips that primarily end up in smartphones. But Qualcomm has plans to enter the data center business, focusing on CPUs designed to work in tandem with AI accelerator chips. It believes its expertise in low-power, high-performance chips for smartphones will translate into very effective chip designs for data centers. It recently agreed to acquire Alphawave Semi with the aim of bolstering its data center capabilities. The company will face significant competition in that market, but not all AI inference will take place in the cloud. There's a growing push to perform AI processing on devices themselves, which provides advantages in security, privacy, and speed. To that end, Qualcomm is well-positioned to see a growing share of the market, as its Snapdragon mobile processors are found in most high-end Android devices. As on-device AI becomes a differentiator, demand for high-end devices could increase, boosting Qualcomm's mobile processor sales. In the meantime, Qualcomm holds the patents for wireless baseband chips found in practically every phone. As a result, it collects a royalty for every smartphone sale. Apple is notably moving away from Qualcomm, developing its own chipsets, but the process is a big hurdle. Few other phone makers have the capability, capital, or scale necessary to cut out Qualcomm. As such, the licensing business should provide a stable source of earnings for the business for the foreseeable future. At around $160 per share, the stock trades for just 13.5 times forward earnings. That's an incredible value for a company with strong long-term positions in Android phones, and it seems Apple's moves are weighing too heavily on the stock. With a potential data center business on the horizon, it could have another big business like its mobile processors. But even with just the mobile chips and licensing business producing steady free cash flow, it's still a great value at this price. While cloud computing providers are trying to stock their data centers with more and more chips for artificial intelligence training and inference, somebody has to make those chips. And in order to do that, you need specialized equipment. That's where Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) comes in. The company produces a broad portfolio of wafer fabrication equipment, including etching, deposition, and process control. Applied Materials' ability to participate in all of those areas gives it an advantage. It can cross-sell manufacturers on its equipment, allowing it to compete with more specialized equipment makers. And as one of the largest equipment providers, it also has more revenue to reinvest in R&D to produce the next generation of equipment or expand its portfolio, creating a virtuous cycle and extending its technology lead. The push to expand chip production has been a boon for Applied Materials. Despite sales restrictions in China and slower growth in the automotive segment, the equipment maker grew sales 7% in the first quarter. The shift toward more high-end devices also helped expand its gross margin to over 49% last quarter. Applied Materials' product is extremely sticky, too. Once a manufacturer buys its equipment, it wants to get the most out of it. That means a long product life and recurring service revenue. With the stock trading at about $175 per share, it sports a forward P/E of about 18.5. That's a great value for a company growing revenue at a steady high-single-digit clip with expanding margins. While the business can be cyclical, the long-term trend is for more and more advanced chip sales. Applied Materials is well-positioned to capitalize on that trend, and its current stock price gives investors a great opportunity to buy into it. Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $655,255!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $888,780!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 999% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Levy has positions in Alphabet, Apple, Applied Materials, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Applied Materials, and Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 3 No-Brainer Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Stocks to Buy With $200 Right Now was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Android Authority
an hour ago
- Android Authority
I tried Canva's photo editor to see if it could replace my favorite free app
Megan Ellis / Android Authority I've been using Canva for years, mostly for simple designs. So when I saw that Canva had rolled out a new photo editing tool, which is more advanced that the simple tweaks you can make in a design, I was interested in trying it out. I stumbled across a useful feature that's not in my favorite photo-editing app Snapseed, so I wondered if Canva could actually replace the free app's place in my workflow. I tried out the Canva app's new tool to see just how effective it would be at replacing Snapseed, and whether many of its features were locked behind a paywall. What is the most important feature in a photo editor? 0 votes Availability on desktop and mobile. NaN % Generative AI tools. NaN % One-tap edits and filters. NaN % Selective editing features. NaN % Sliders for contrast, saturation, and other attributes. NaN % My favorite Canva photo editor feature is one Snapseed doesn't have Megan Ellis / Android Authority I don't bother with generative AI on my smartphone, but there is one AI feature I enjoy when it comes to image editing: background selection and removal. I love Snapseed and its selective editing tools, but I sometimes wish I could just select the background or foreground with one click. When I tried out Canva's new photo editor for the first time, I was excited to find that it had these automatic selection tools. Not only were they available for free, but they were also really accurate. Snapseed doesn't have this type of automatic selection, while I've found Google Photos' editing tools to not be as accurate as I would like when blurring the background. When I tried out Canva's new photo editor for the first time, I was excited to find that it had auto-select tools. I've found that I've had to edit photos less in general as camera smartphones have advanced, especially now that I'm trying out the vivo X200 Pro. But when it comes to photos that I use for the websites I work for, I sometimes wish the background would be more out-of-focus. The X200 Pro is pretty capable at adjusting the focus to hone in on the subject of the photo, but since I'm usually handling two phones at the same time for an image, I sometimes struggle to get the camera to focus correctly. That's what made me really interested in Canva's photo editor and after trying it out, I was really impressed by the selection accuracy. Not only can I use it to reduce the sharpness of the background, but I can adjust other aspects like the contrast and saturation. This opens up a whole realm of creative possibilities. Snapseed does have a lens blur feature, but this applies more of a vignette and blur around the edges rather than making the foreground stand out from the background. However, if you want to generate a new background or remove the background, you will need to subscribe to Canva's premium plan. Could Canva replicate the best Snapseed features? Megan Ellis / Android Authority With my curiosity officially piqued, I decided to explore other features in Canva's photo editor to see if it could excel in the same areas as Snapseed. Just like Snapseed, Canva allows you to edit a range of image attributes. This includes brightness, highlights, shadows, temperature, and sharpness. Just like Snapseed, Canva allows you to edit a range of image attributes. I prefer having these types of fine-tuned controls, since they're simple enough for a beginner to get to grips with without being as overwhelming as curve editing. At the same time, Canva also has plenty of preset effects and filters that make editing a breeze for those who prefer one-tap editing. That said, Canva does lack some of the more advanced features of Snapseed, like adjusting color curves. But this isn't a feature that I use in Snapseed anyway, so its absence in Canva isn't an issue. You can also do a color edit in Canva, which I think is a bit easier to use than adjusting a curve. I also like that Canva has a brush editor, so you can specifically select areas that you want to fine-tune. I find this useful for selecting parts of an object to highlight, or reducing the presence of shadows. Canva fails in one key area Megan Ellis / Android Authority With everything that works in Canva's favor, there's a major caveat — since Canva is primarily used through the web platform, its mobile app isn't as optimized it should be. Don't get me wrong, Canva's Android app has significantly improved over the years. There was a time I refused to use it, but this aversion isn't as strong as it used to be. That said, I still found the usability of the app to be lacking. Sometimes bugs would prevent my touch input from registering. Meanwhile, pressing the back button on my smartphone often exits the app rather than simply exiting a feature within the photo editor. I found the usability of the app to be lacking. Another thing I dislike about the app is that even if it has access to your camera roll, it will re-upload an image you select to edit. This meant that when I accidentally exited the app by pressing the back button, then selected the photo I wanted to edit, it would re-upload the photo again. I had to learn to go to my Projects tab, then the Uploads folder, to edit an image I had uploaded. The editing workflow is a bit more intuitive in the Canva web app, but I would say that it still needs some improvements — such as making it much easier to access existing uploads. Canva will be my go-to editor for PC After trying Canva's photo editor, I've decided to use it when editing photos on my PC. Since Snapseed doesn't have a desktop version anymore, this means that it's not replacing the app's place in my workflow, but rather complementing it. It works out well for me because when I adjust the images I use for websites, I prefer to edit them on my PC rather than my smartphone. But Canva's mobile app quirks means that I won't be using it to edit my social media photos on my smartphone. For that purpose, I'll be sticking with Snapseed, which I still consider one of the best photo editor apps for Android.
