Health

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) ahead of a roundtable event as part of the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) agenda, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 15, 2025. Ken Cedeno | ReutersThe Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday said it will officially remove the mercury-based preservative thimerosal from all flu shots distributed in the U.S. – even though there is no evidence of harm from the ingredient. While few jabs still contain thimerosal, the move eliminates a vaccine option for Americans and is a win for the anti-vaccine movement, which has long targeted the ingredient.HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. formally adopted a June recommenda...

Wildpixel | Istock | Getty ImagesA version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions.A universal cancer vaccine – what once seemed like a pipe dream – may be inching closer to becoming reality. On Friday, University of Florida researchers said findings from a new study could lead to the development of a universal shot that can jumpstart the immune system to fight cancer. The study in mice, published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, showed that an experimental mRNA vaccine boosted the tumor-fighting effects of a common cancer drug called immune checkpoint inhibitors. The vaccine is not designed for a specific virus or cancer cells, but engineered to "wake up...

UnitedHealth Group revealed Thursday it is facing Department of Justice investigations over its Medicare billing practices, adding to a string of setbacks for a company that owns the nation's largest and most powerful private insurer.In a securities filing, the company said that it has started complying with formal criminal and civil requests from the DOJ, and that it reached out to the department after reports of the probes surfaced. UnitedHealth also said it has launched a third-party review of its business policies and performance metrics.The company told CNBC that it expects to complete that review toward the end of the third quarter.In the filing, UnitedHealth said it "has full confidence in its practices and is committed to working cooperatively with the Department throughout this pr...

UnitedHealth Group Chairman and CEO Stephen Hemsley will face the first real test Tuesday of his ability to regain investor confidence as the largest private U.S. insurer reports earnings.The Dow component has seen its share price cut nearly in half since mid-May, with the stock on pace for its worst year in more than a decade, after earnings in its flagship Medicare program and Optum Health physician practices plummeted. That led to the abrupt resignation of former CEO Andrew Witty, forcing the company to reinstate ex-CEO Hemsley to replace him and suspend earnings guidance. On top of that, the company is facing criminal and civil Department of Justice investigations into its Medicare billing practices.  As UnitedHealth faces challenges on multiple fronts, it sits in a "perfect storm," sa...

UnitedHealthcare signage is displayed on an office building in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 19, 2023.Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty ImagesUnitedHealth Group on Tuesday issued a 2025 outlook that fell short of Wall Street's expectations, as the company's insurance unit continues to grapple with higher medical costs.Shares of UnitedHealth Group closed more than 7% lower on Tuesday.The company anticipates it will post 2025 adjusted earnings of at least $16 per share, with revenue of $445.5 billion to $448 billion. Wall Street analysts had expected 2025 adjusted profit of $20.91 per share, and full-year revenue of $449.16 billion, according to consensus estimates from LSEG.On top of higher medical costs, the updated outlook removes about $1 billion from "previously planned portfolio actions" tha...

Merck & Co. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMerck on Tuesday said it will slash $3 billion in costs by the end of 2027 to be fully reinvested to support new product launches and its drug pipeline. The multiyear effort comes as Merck prepares to offset revenue losses from the upcoming patent expiration of its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda in 2028. It also comes as drugmakers brace for President Donald Trump's planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S., which has prompted Merck and other companies to invest billions to boost their manufacturing footprints in the U.S. Shares of the pharmaceutical giant closed more than 1% lower on Tuesday."Today, we announced a ...

Medications are stored on shelves at a pharmacy on May 12, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Eric Thayer | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump is slated to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S. any day now – and the duties may have a bigger impact on some drugmakers than others, according to some analysts. Trump told reporters earlier this month that his administration will begin implementing low pharmaceutical levies as early as Aug. 1 and increase the rate in about a year or 18 months. He has threatened to impose up to 200% tariffs on imported drugs.It is still unclear if he will follow through with that exact plan and tariff rate, which makes it difficult to fully assess how the policy will affect drugmakers and patients. Domestic drug manufacturing operations are also ...

The office building of international biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesA version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions.President Donald Trump has been pressuring pharmaceutical companies to lower U.S. drug costs, and it may be starting to work – at least on AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca has proposed price cuts to certain drugs in the U.S., its CEO Pascal Soriot told reporters on Tuesday, after the company's second-quarter revenue and earnings topped estimates. "We have made proposals of what we as a company believe could be done, which would actually entail rebalancing pricing with a reduction in the U.S.," Soriot s...

A researcher works in the lab at the Moderna Inc. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe Covid-19 pandemic turned Moderna and BioNTech into household names almost overnight. Now the two companies are on different paths.Both Moderna and BioNTech helped pioneer mRNA, or messenger RNA, technology. Moderna staked its entire identity around mRNA, while BioNTech saw it as one piece of a broader portfolio focused on immunology and oncology. The pandemic gave both companies a chance to prove mRNA's promise of using the body's own immune system to protect against viruses or treat diseases. Covid vaccines have generated roughly $45 billion in sales for each company, earning them each about $20 billion since their rollout ...

The Moderna Inc. headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 26, 2024.Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesModerna on Thursday said it plans to slash roughly 10% of its global workforce by the end of the year, as Covid shot sales continue to dwindle and the company grapples with uncertainty in the vaccine market. In a memo to employees, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said the company expects to have fewer than 5,000 workers by the end of the year. Moderna had approximately 5,800 full-time employees in 18 countries as of Dec. 31, 2024, according to its 2024 annual report. Shares of Moderna have dropped more than 20% this year. In May, the company reported first-quarter vaccine sales that missed Wall Street's estimates. Moderna is also navigating policy hurdles under Health and Human ...