
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>A total of 322 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday—the most in a single day since the war began—the Israeli Ministry of Defense confirmed on Sunday, as Israel faces increased scrutiny over its treatment of aid workers that has resulted in over 200 deaths so far.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>A total of 228 of the trucks that crossed into Gaza on Sunday were carrying food, said the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories in a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/cogatonline/status/1777030931280167407?s=46&amp;t=XMT4bHReB9TWcV5q_r0pFw" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement</a>&nbsp;on social media, the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s department that handles humanitarian aid shipments.</p>



<p>The rapid increase in aid deliveries follows increased scrutiny on the process after&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/04/02/netanyahu-says-israel-deeply-regrets-strike-that-killed-7-aid-workers-what-we-know-about-victims/?sh=3d7d6d9275fb">seven aid workers</a>&nbsp;with World Conflict Kitchen were killed in Israeli air strikes on Monday.</p>



<p>One of the seven international aid workers was an American citizen, prompting the White House to call for “specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.”</p>



<p>Following a tense conversation with President Biden on Thursday, Israel reopened the Erez Crossing, the large border entry between northern Gaza and Israel, and announced it would allow aid shipments to flow through the port of Ashdod.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The increased pressure to protect international aid workers comes after the Israeli government apologized for the deaths of the seven World Conflict Kitchen workers on Monday. After an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/04/05/idf-fires-senior-officers-after-deadly-strike-on-aid-workers-as-it-blames-mistaken-identification/?sh=7cb8b7f7ae7f">IDF investigation</a>, the Israeli military called the attack a “grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification,” and dismissed two senior officers over the strike. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1775214347519660112" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">apologized</a>, adding that “we will do everything in our power to ensure that such tragedies do not occur in the future.” José Andrés, the celebrity chef and founder of World Conflict Kitchen, told&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-4-7-24-chef-jos-andrs/story?id=108949216" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">ABC News’s</a>&nbsp;Martha Raddatz the attack was “unforgivable” and called for Israel to face “a real reckoning on how they conduct war.” Andres thanked Israeli military for releasing the results of the investigation so quickly, but also called for an independent investigation into the attack. “The perpetrator cannot be investigating himself,” Andrés said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>More than 220. That’s how many international aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7, according to the most recent&nbsp;<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148276" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">U.N. estimates</a>. Speaking on Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an independent investigation into the other deaths. “We want to know why each one of them was killed,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2024/apr/05/we-want-to-know-why-un-chief-questions-israel-on-196-aid-workers-killed-in-gaza-video" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Guterres demanded</a>&nbsp;after a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



<p>Although a record number of aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, aid shipments have faced other issues making it into the besieged territory during the war. In February, a group of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/10/gaza-aid-blockade-protest-kerem-shalom/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">far-right Israeli activists</a>&nbsp;camped out in front of aid convoys attempting to enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Aid shipments have also been threatened by members of Netanyahu’s government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right member of Netanyahu’s coalition,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/13/israel-gaza-flour-shipment" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">intervened to block</a>&nbsp;a shipment of flour bound for Gaza from the U.S.</p>


Humanitarian aid trucks at Rafah Border Crossing

Largest Aid Convoy Enters Gaza Since War Began Amid Mounting Pressure On Israel


<p>The number of annual prostate cancer diagnoses is expected to roughly double by 2040, according to a study published Thursday in The Lancet medical journal, with the number of annual deaths attributable to the disease expected to rise by 85% in the same amount of time—an increase driven by lower-income countries.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Scientists at the London Institute of Cancer Research predict there will be 2.9 million annual cases of prostate cancer around the world by 2040, more than twice as many as the 1.4 million cases seen in 2020, with the increase expected to be most prominent among men in low- and middle-income countries.</p>



<p>Subsequently, researchers estimate deaths due to the disease will rise to almost 700,000 per year in 2040, up from the 375,000 in 2020.</p>



<p>While prostate cancer deaths have declined in most high-income countries over the last 30 years, mortality rates and the number of cases continue to rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly those without access to early blood detection screening called PSA testing.</p>



<p>The study suggests that even in high-income countries, men at high risk—like those with family history, those of African descent and those with the BRACA2 gene mutation—be screened for the cancer early using PSA testing and MRI scans.</p>



<p>Researchers warn lifestyle changes and public health interventions will do little to stop the rise in cases as the main risk factors for the disease—being a man over 50 and having a family history of prostate cancer—are unavoidable.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“As more and more men around the world live to middle and old age, there will be an inevitable rise in the number of prostate cancer cases,&#8221; lead author Dr. Nick James said in a statement. &#8220;We know this surge in cases is coming, so we need to start planning and take action now.&#8221;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Prostate cancer is already responsible for 15% of all male cancers, and is the most common form of cancer in men in more than half of countries around the world, the Lancet study said. It is possible for women to be diagnosed with prostate cancer, but&nbsp;<a href="https://www.baptisthealth.com/blog/womens-care/can-women-have-prostate-cancer#:~:text=Women%20can%20develop%20cancer%20in,0.003%25%20of%20all%20genital%20cancers." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">studies have suggested</a>&nbsp;as few as 0.003% of cases are found in women. There is no cure for metastatic prostate cancer, but many cases&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/prostate-cancer/types-treatment#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20cure%20for,that%20extend%20life%20even%20further." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">are treatable</a>&nbsp;and, if discovered early, it&#8217;s not uncommon for patients to outlive the disease. Those diagnosed within the first three stages are likely to be cancer-free after five years, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-prognosis#:~:text=High%20Cure%20Rates%20for%20Local,disease%2Dfree%20after%20five%20years." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">John Hopkins Medicine</a>, but there is little that can be medically done for the cancer in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stage-4-prostate-cancer/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20377972" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">late stage</a>. Johns Hopkins estimates 80 to 85% of all prostate cancers are found early, but cases found late have an average five-year survival rate of only 28%. Because of the importance of early detection, countries with less access to screenings have a higher rate of prostate cancer and deaths among residents. While prostate cancer rates are highest in countries including Ireland, Sweden and France, deaths rates from the disease are highest in the lower-income and predominantly Black nations of Zimbabwe, Barbados, Haiti and Zambia, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wcrf.org/cancer-trends/prostate-cancer-statistics/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">World Cancer Research Fund</a>. Most prostate cancer research, however, is done on white men, the Lancet study reports, while also placing an emphasis on the need for more research involving patients of different ethnicities, especially those of West African descent.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>A number of high-profile celebrities have publicly shared their journeys with prostate cancer. British actor&nbsp;<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/12/12/ian-mckellen-diagnosed-with-early-stage-prostate-cancer-years-ago#:~:text=Doctors%20diagnosed%20Sir%20Ian%20McKellen,%2C%22%20according%20to%20the%20site." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Sir Ian McKellen</a>, now 84, said he was given an early stage prostate cancer diagnosis in 2005 or 2006.&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=101017&amp;page=1" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Robert De Niro</a>, now 80, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003 at age 60 and went on to make a full recovery. Other public figures who&#8217;ve shared their diagnosis include former Secretary of State&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/us/kerry-to-undergo-surgery-for-prostate-cancer-today.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">John Kerry,</a>&nbsp;former New York City Mayor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/15/nyregion/giuliani-undergoes-implant-to-treat-his-prostate-cancer.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Rudy Giuliani</a>, actor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/yourbestlife/cancer_and_you/comedian-and-actor-ben-stiller-brought-attention-to-early-screening-for-prostate-cancer/article_10b7ed1c-5fb1-11ee-b555-7fdb3fd50b39.html#:~:text=His%20doctor%20ordered%20a%20follow,to%20have%20this%20test%20done." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Ben Stiller</a>&nbsp;and billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2012/09/14/warren-buffett-completes-prostate-cancer-treatments.html#:~:text=In%20April%2C%20he%20announced%20that,debilitating%20in%20any%20meaningful%20way.%22" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Warren Buffet</a>. Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles of England does not have prostate cancer, but has not shared what type of cancer he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2024/02/05/king-charles-diagnosed-with-cancer-after-hospital-stay/">was diagnosed with</a>&nbsp;earlier this year. The health discovery came after the monarch was treated for an enlarged prostate. His daughter-in-law and the future Queen,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/03/22/kate-middleton-cancer-diagnosis-prince-william-rose-hanbury-denies-rumors/">Kate Middleton</a>, also shared she has been diagnosed with cancer, but did not specify a type.</p>


Radiologist consoling a senior patient at MRI scan.

Worldwide Prostate Cancer Cases Will Double By 2040, New Study Predicts—Here’s Why


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Global life expectancy rose by 6.2 years between 1990 and 2021, driven by reductions in deaths from diarrhea, lower respiratory infections, stroke and ischemic heart disease—but the world faced significant setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)00367-2/fulltext" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">new study</a>&nbsp;by the Lancet.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The leading causes of death worldwide remained consistent from 1990 to 2019—with ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lower respiratory infections topping the list—with global life expectancy improving in that time period thanks in part to annual reductions in deaths from all causes ranging from .9% to 2.4%.</p>



<p>The Covid-19 pandemic hampered progress, with pandemic-related mortality causing a net reduction in life expectancy of 1.6 years between 2019 and 2021 and Covid-19 becoming the second-leading cause of death—the first major shakeup of the rankings in decades.</p>



<p>Changes in life expectancy varied significantly by region, the study found—the so-called super-region consisting of Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania saw the greatest net gain in life expectancy from 1990 and 2021, rising by 8.3 years due to big drops in mortality from chronic respiratory diseases, stroke, lower respiratory infections and cancer, with “strong management” of the pandemic curbing life expectancy losses due to Covid-19 to just .4 years between 2019 and 2021.</p>



<p>Reductions in deaths from enteric diseases—which include diarrhea and typhoid—significantly contributed to improvements in life expectancy, estimated to contribute an overall increase of 1.1 years globally.</p>



<p>Control of mortality due to diarrheal disease contributed to significant gains in life expectancy in the super region of South Asia, which had the second-highest increase among super regions in life expectancy with 7.8 years, and in Eastern sub-Saharan Africa, which had the highest increase in life expectancy of any local region with 10.7 years.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“On one hand, we see countries’ monumental achievements in preventing deaths from diarrhea and stroke,” said Dr. Liane Ong of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations, one of the authors of the study, in a statement. “At the same time, we see how much the Covid-19 pandemic has set us back.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>31.5%. That’s how much the age-standardized mortality rate for ischemic heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide, dropped between 1990 and 2021. The rate in 2021 was 108.7, with Covid-19 the second-leading cause of death at 94.0.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>The largest decline in life expectancy due to Covid-19 was in Latin America and the Caribbean, where it caused a 3.6-year reduction.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The study is the first of its kind to compare deaths from Covid-19 to other leading causes of death, according to the authors. It notes Covid-19 may have had indirect effects on mortality rates as well, with physical distancing measures affecting mortality for other diseases, and deferred care-seeking leading to pandemic-related deaths not attributable directly to Covid-19. Another <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/03/12/covid-lowered-global-life-expectancy-more-than-previously-thought-new-study-suggests/?sh=17845fa6576b">study</a> published by the Lancet earlier this month previously found the global life expectancy dropped by 1.6 years due to the pandemic, with the United States seeing the highest excess mortality rate when compared to similar high-wealth nations.<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesfarrell/"></a></p>


Researcher working in a biochemist laboratory

Global Life Expectancy Increased Between 1990 And 2021, But Pandemic Stalled Progress


<p><strong>A record year for ten-figure wealth has left the billionaire class bigger and richer than ever.</strong></p>



<p class="has-drop-cap">What a year it’s been for the planet’s billionaires, whose fortunes continue to swell as global stock markets shrug off war, political unrest and lingering inflation. There are now more billionaires than ever: 2,781 in all, 141 more than last year and 26 more than the record set in 2021. They’re richer than ever, worth $14.2 trillion in aggregate, up by $2 trillion from 2023 and $1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021. </p>



<p>Two-thirds of the list’s members are worth more than a year ago; only one fourth are poorer. Much of the gains come from the top 20, who added a combined $700 billion in wealth since 2023, and from the U.S., which now boasts a record 813 billionaires worth a combined $5.7 trillion. China remains second, with 473 (including Hong Kong) worth $1.7 trillion, despite weak consumer spending and a real estate bust that helped wipe out some $300 billion in wealth. India, which has 200 billionaires (also a record), ranks third. </p>



<p>To calculate net worths, we used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024. See below for the full list of the world’s billionaires and our methodology. For daily updated net worths of all 2,781 billionaires, check out our&nbsp;<a href="http://forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">real-time billionaires rankings</a>.</p>


Most Attractive Youtube Thumbnail (10)

FORBES WORLD’S BILLIONAIRES LIST: The Richest in 2024


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Microsoft will split up its workplace messaging and video calls app Teams from its Office platform globally, the company told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-separate-teams-office-globally-amid-antitrust-scrutiny-2024-04-01/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Reuters</a>&nbsp;early on Monday, mirroring a move it undertook in the European Union last year as it attempts to avoid being penalized by the bloc’s antitrust regulators.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>In August last year, Microsoft announced it would unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 subscription—which includes its Office suite of productivity software like Word, Excel and PowerPoint—in the EU and offer the messaging service as a standalone subscription.</p>



<p>The tech giant&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-separate-teams-office-globally-amid-antitrust-scrutiny-2024-04-01/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;Reuters Monday it will enact the change for all its customers worldwide “to ensure clarity,” and businesses can now choose slightly cheaper Microsoft 365 plans without Teams.</p>



<p>The company said its decision was based on feedback from the European Commission to help global companies “standardize their purchasing across geographies.”</p>



<p>Forbes has reached out to Microsoft for a comment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm,&nbsp;<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_3991" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">opened</a>&nbsp;an antitrust investigation into Microsoft in July last year. The commission said the investigation intended to assess whether the company “breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365.” The executive body expressed concerns about Microsoft “abusing” the market dominance of its Office productivity software to restrict competition for “communication and collaboration products.” The investigation followed a complaint filed against Microsoft and Teams by its rival messaging platform Slack. Microsoft&nbsp;<a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/eupolicy/2023/08/31/european-competition-teams-office-microsoft-365/#:~:text=First%2C%20beginning%20October%201%2C%202023,or%20%E2%82%AC24%20per%20year)." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">responded</a>&nbsp;by unbundling Teams from its office productivity suite for EU customers in August. At the time, the company said it was taking “meaningful steps” to address the commission’s concerns and had gained clarity “from extensive and constructive discussions” with the executive body.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>It is unclear if Microsoft’s latest actions are enough to fend off an antitrust fine from the EU. The commission had particularly expressed concern that Microsoft was giving Teams a “distribution advantage” over rivals by “not giving customers the choice” on whether they want to include Teams in their Office subscription. The unbundling will likely assuage that issue, but the commission had also raised a red flag about Microsoft possibly limiting “interoperability between its productivity suites” and rival messaging apps. If the investigators are unsatisfied with the remedies and find Microsoft guilty of antitrust breaches, the company could face fines as high as 10% of its global annual turnover.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>$2.37 billion (€2.2 billion). That is the quantum of antitrust fines Microsoft has faced in the European Union in the past decade, the Reuters report added.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-separate-teams-office-globally-amid-antitrust-scrutiny-2024-04-01/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft to separate Teams and Office globally amid antitrust scrutiny</a> (Reuters)</p>


Microsoft Services Down For Tens Of Thousands Around World

Microsoft Unbundles Teams From Office Suite In A Bid To Address Antitrust Probe


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Altimmune’s experimental weight loss drug pemvidutide minimized the loss of muscle mass while losing weight, mimicking the effects of diet and exercise, according to the results of a small trial by the company, amid efforts by biotech firms to study how increasingly popular weight-loss drugs can maintain muscle mass.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>In a mid-stage trial of pemvidutide, 74.5% of weight loss among 391 participants came from fat tissue while only 25.5% came from lean mass, results that are comparable to the effects “historically associated with diet and exercise,” Altimmune&nbsp;<a href="https://ir.altimmune.com/news-releases/news-release-details/altimmune-announces-positive-lean-mass-preservation-data" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;Wednesday.</p>



<p>The drug pemvidutide combines the GLP-1 hormone—a key ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy—with the hormone glucagon, a pairing the company is also testing to treat a common form of liver disease called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.</p>



<p>Over 30% of participants using a 2.4-milligram dose of pemvidutide achieved a 20% weight loss through a 48-week trial of the drug, Altimmune&nbsp;<a href="https://ir.altimmune.com/news-releases/news-release-details/altimmune-announces-positive-topline-results-momentum-48-week" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;in November.</p>



<p>The Food and Drug Administration announced last year it would fast-track its evaluation of pemvidutide for treating nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, a severe form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, after more than half of the 190 participants in a&nbsp;<a href="https://altimmune.com/pemvidutide/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">trial</a>&nbsp;had their liver fat content reduced to a normal level after 12 weeks.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Other popular weight-loss drugs have been studied for their ability to maintain muscle mass while helping patients lose weight. During a 68-week&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183/suppl_file/nejmoa2032183_appendix.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">trial</a>&nbsp;of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, over 1,300 participants using the drug lost an average of nearly 15 pounds of lean muscle and 23 pounds of fat. BioAge Labs&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231026896677/en/BioAge-Labs-Announces-Plans-for-Phase-2-Trial-of-First-in-Class-Apelin-Receptor-Agonist-BGE-105Azelaprag-Co-Administered-With-Tirzepatide-for-Treatment-of-Obesity-in-Collaboration-With-Lilly%E2%80%99s-Chorus-Organization" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;last year it would be testing its muscle loss drug azelaprag with Mounjaro to treat obesity, after an early trial indicated azelaprag could help prevent muscle atrophy.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>Additional data from Altimmune’s mid-stage trial will be presented at an unspecified upcoming event, the company said. Results from a study involving pemvidutide’s treatment of MASH are expected in the first quarter of 2025.</p>


Hand of an elderly woman pouring a small assortment of pills onto the palm of her hand

What To Know About Pemvidutide—Altimmune Says Weight Loss Drug Minimized Muscle Mass Loss In Trial


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>A Binance executive detained in Nigeria last month escaped from custody over the weekend, as the West African country filed charges of tax evasion against the cryptocurrency exchange and some of its executives in the latest public scandal for the firm.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Binance executives Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, British-Kenyan citizen, were both taken into custody in Nigeria in February but not charged with any crimes until Monday.</p>



<p>The executives and the crypto company were charged with alleged non-payment of value-added tax (VAT) and company income tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in assisting customers to evade taxes through its platform, Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service announced Monday, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-25/nigeria-announces-charges-against-binance-after-executive-flees" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">multiple</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/25/binance-executive-escapes-nigerian-custody-as-authorities-file-new-tax-charges.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">outlets</a>.</p>



<p>The charges come days after Anjarwalla reportedly escaped from where he was being detained after guards watching him took him to a nearby mosque for prayers, The Premium Times, a Nigerian news outlet,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/680617-nigerian-govt-confirms-escape-of-binance-executive-arrests-personnel-guarding-him.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>.</p>



<p>Nigeria is in talks with Interpol to get an international arrest warrant for Anjarwalla, Nigeria’s national security adviser&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/nigeria-files-tax-evasion-charges-against-binance-tax-agency-says-2024-03-25/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;Reuters.</p>



<p>Binance confirmed Anjarwalla was no longer in Nigerian custody.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue,” Binance told Forbes in an email.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Gambaryan and Anjarwalla have been in Nigeria since Feb. 26 when they&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/binance-executives-remain-detention-after-nigeria-court-appearance-families-say-2024-03-20/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reportedly</a>&nbsp;arrived to discuss the country’s decision to ban some cryptocurrency trading websites, including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken. The office of the National Security Adviser in Nigeria detained the pair and seized their passports,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1507509b-7bbc-48a1-9828-d777036fff2b" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;the Financial Times. Both of their families have since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/binance-executives-remain-detention-after-nigeria-court-appearance-families-say-2024-03-20/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">pleaded</a>&nbsp;with authorities to release the executives. Ahead of their detention, Olayemi Cardoso, Nigeria’s central bank governor,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1507509b-7bbc-48a1-9828-d777036fff2b" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;reporters in February officials were concerned about “illicit flows” going through a number of crypto platforms, according to the Financial Times. He went on to say that in one year, $26 billion passed through Binance Nigeria “from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify.” Days later, the Binance executives were detained. The concerns about crypto trading come as Nigeria struggled with currency devaluation. In the past year, the value of the Nigerian currency, the naira, has fallen 70%&nbsp;<a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/currency/ngnusd" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">against</a>&nbsp;the U.S. dollar.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>The tax evasion charges and detentions follow high-profile problems Binance has faced in recent years. In November, Changpeng Zhao, the company’s founder, pleaded guilty to Justice Department charges of breaking anti-money laundering laws and violating sanctions and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/02/23/judge-approves-binances-43-billion-settlement-for-anti-money-laundering-sanctions-violations/?sh=9d34b8d44758">agreed</a> to pay more than $4.3 million in fines and restitutions for doing so. In June, the Securities and Exchange Commision <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/06/05/sec-sues-binance-for-multiple-us-rule-violations/?sh=74a7467d7fcb">sued</a> Binance for operating an illegal exchange in the U.S. Months before that, in March, regulators <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8680-23" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alleged</a> that Binance and Zhao evaded Commodity Futures Trading Commission rules. The crypto company <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-06/us-probes-binance-over-token-that-is-now-world-s-fifth-largest" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a> remains under investigation from the SEC over whether the company illegally sold digital coins when it started out in 2017. Binance isn’t alone: other crypto firms, including Beaxy and Kraken, have also been hit with civil lawsuits recently as regulators crack down on the industry.<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/"></a></p>


In this photo illustration, the Binance logo is displayed on

Binance Executive Flees Nigerian Prison Amid New Charges


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>The Islamic State group took responsibility for a Friday attack on a Moscow area concert hall that left at least 40 dead and about 100 injured, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/world/europe/isis-moscow-attack-concert-hall.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">multiple</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/europe/crocus-moscow-shooting/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">outlets</a>, a claim confirmed by U.S. officials and Russian media.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>A branch of ISIS based in Afghanistan and known as ISIS-K claimed responsibility for the shooting in a statement made on Telegram and published by ISIS-affiliated news agency Amaq,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/europe/crocus-moscow-shooting/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CNN</a>&nbsp;reported.</p>



<p>U.S. officials confirmed the ISIS connection to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/world/europe/isis-moscow-attack-concert-hall.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Times</a>, noting U.S. intelligence members collected evidence in March that the ISIS branch was planning an attack on Moscow and that ISIS members have been active in Russia.</p>



<p></p>



<p>Russia’s foreign ministry called the shooting a terrorist attack, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/shooting-reported-concert-hall-moscow/story?id=108396308" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ABC News</a>, which noted a U.S. official said they see no reason to doubt ISIS’ claim of responsibility.</p>



<p>The shooting reportedly took place around 8 p.m. local time and was conducted by&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/shooting-reported-concert-hall-moscow/story?id=108396308" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">at least five gunmen</a>&nbsp;in camouflage who opened fire on concertgoers in attendance for a show by Russian rock band Picnic.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>The U.S. Embassy in Russia issued a&nbsp;<a href="https://ru.usembassy.gov/security-alert-avoid-large-gatherings-over-the-next-48-hours/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">warning</a>&nbsp;two weeks ago urging Americans to avoid large gatherings in Moscow, citing reports of extremist plans to target such gatherings.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-suprising-fact">SUPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>The incident is the largest terror attack in Central Russia in terms of victims since the 2011 Domodedovo airport bombing, according to ABC. The bombing killed 37 people and injured 172.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>“ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years,” Colin P. Clarke, a counterterrorism analyst at the Soufan Group, told the New York Times, adding the branch group has accused the Kremlin of spilling Muslim blood through its interventions in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Syria. Friday’s attack comes less than a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to secure reelection after dominating the polls.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/03/22/at-least-40-dead-at-moscow-music-hall-shooting-russian-state-media-says/?sh=736f3f417c78">At Least 40 Dead At Moscow Music Hall Shooting, Russian State Media Says</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/world/europe/isis-moscow-attack-concert-hall.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">U.S. Says ISIS Was Responsible for Deadly Moscow Concert Hall Attack</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)</p>



<p><a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/shooting-reported-concert-hall-moscow/story?id=108396308" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ISIS claims responsibility in deadly attack on Russia&#8217;s Crocus City Hall</a> (ABC)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/europe/crocus-moscow-shooting/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ISIS claims responsibility for attack in busy Moscow-area concert venue that left at least 40 dead</a> (CNN)</p>


Iran-Reaction, Shooting At The Crocus City Hall Concert In Moscow

ISIS Claims Responsibility For Moscow Shooting That Left 40 Dead


<p>Kate Middleton is in the early stages of chemotherapy treatment after a cancer diagnosis, the Princess of Wales confirmed in a new video Friday, the first major update provided on the princess’ health since the palace first announced in January she would undergo a surgery and be out of the public eye for months.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-2104753638.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-61494" style="width:730px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-2104753638.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-2104753638-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-2104753638-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>In a two-minute&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1771235267837321694" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">video</a>&nbsp;posted to Kensington Palace social media pages, Kate confirmed she underwent an abdominal surgery earlier this year and that while the surgery “was successful,” tests afterwards confirmed “cancer had been present.”</p>



<p>Kate did not elaborate or explain what type of cancer she has been diagnosed with, but did say she is undergoing “a course of preventive chemotherapy.”</p>



<p>Kate said the palace delayed telling the public about her diagnosis so she and William had time to process the news and talk about it with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.</p>



<p>She completed the video by asking for “time, space and privacy.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“As I have said to them, I am well and getting stronger everyday by focusing on the things that will help me heal in my mind, body and spirits,” Kate said in the video. “Having William by my side is a great source of reassurance and comfort and reassurance, too.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>The royal family in January announced two major pieces of health information regarding senior royals: King Charles would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2024/01/17/king-charles-will-undergo-prostate-procedure-palace-says/?sh=4801df184c23">undergo a prostate procedure</a>&nbsp;and Kate Middleton would be admitted to the hospital for a &#8220;planned abdominal surgery.” The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2024-01-17/a-statement-from-kensington-palace" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">palace said&nbsp;</a>she would step back from professional engagements for months while she recovered. One week later, it was announced the king&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2024/02/05/king-charles-diagnosed-with-cancer-after-hospital-stay/?sh=62a3f0251757">was diagnosed</a>&nbsp;with cancer. Buckingham Palace did not specify what type or stage of cancer the king has. Kate Middleton&nbsp;<a href="https://people.com/kate-middleton-leaves-hospital-after-surgery-continue-recover-home-8431757#:~:text=Kate%20Middleton%20is%20recovering%20from,William%2C%20and%20their%20three%20children." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">left the hospital</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 29 and returned home to recover, and more than a month went by without any other updates on her health from official sources. As concern for the princess grew, so did unsubstantiated rumors about her health, personal life and marriage to Prince William, who is expected to take the throne upon the death of his father. Several news outlets&nbsp;<a href="https://www.etonline.com/see-kate-middleton-for-the-first-time-since-hospitalization-for-abdominal-surgery-pic-220894" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">circulated</a>&nbsp;blurry photos of Kate riding in a car driven by her mother on March 4, the first time she had been seen since leaving the hospital. Days later, Kensington Palace released a photo of Kate and her three children to celebrate Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom. That same day,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/03/11/kate-apologizes-for-causing-confusion-after-news-agencies-flag-her-photo-as-manipulated/">news agencies retracted</a>&nbsp;the image and accused the palace of having manipulated the image so heavily it should no longer be used by outlets, with the global news director of Agence France-Presse&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2024/03/14/kensington-palace-no-longer-a-trusted-source-after-releasing-edited-kate-middleton-photo-afp-says/?sh=123aafef5238">telling the BBC</a>&nbsp;the palace could no longer be considered a &#8220;trusted source.&#8221; On March 18, tabloids&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tmz.com/2024/03/18/kate-middleton-seen-new-video-windsor-farm-shop-prince-william/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">published</a>&nbsp;video footage they claim depicted Kate and William on a trip to the Windsor Farm Shop near their home, though Kensington Palace would not comment on the video and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/18/kate-middleton-video-shopping/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Washington Post said</a>&nbsp;it could not confirm the date or time it was taken.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>One of the more prevalent rumors about Kate Middleton’s whereabouts circulated on a pending divorce between her and Prince William over an affair the prince was baselessly accused of having with Lady Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley. The rumors made their way to the &#8220;Late Show&#8221; earlier this month, where host Stephen Colbert speculated on the rumored affair. Habury&#8217;s lawyers then sent notices to the show to deny the claims of an affair,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prince-william-rose-hanbury-rumor-kate-middleton-explained-2024-3" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">multiple sources</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/22/entertainment/rose-hanbury-sends-legal-notice-to-stephen-colbert-over-prince-william-affair-joke-report/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>, and said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/rose-hanbury-lawyers-sent-notice-to-stephen-colbert/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement to In Touch</a>&nbsp;they were writing &#8220;on our client’s behalf to CBS and various other reputable media organizations to confirm that the allegation is false.” Representatives for CBS did not respond to Forbes’ request for comment Friday.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>World leaders responded to the princess’ diagnosis Friday afternoon. Rishi Sunak, prime minister of the United Kingdom,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1771236237153546649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1771236237153546649%7Ctwgr%5Ee148c9579c52a04d40dd7f8338ffc25876483276%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fiframe.nbcnews.com%2FmDv38Wp%3F_showcaption%3Dtrueapp%3D1" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">on Friday said</a>&nbsp;Kate has &#8220;shown tremendous bravery with her statement today. In recent weeks she has been subjected to intense scrutiny and has been unfairly treated by certain sections of the media around the world and on social media&#8230; I know I speak for the country in wishing her a full and speedy recovery.&#8221; Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/albamonica/status/1771238958300639517" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;the White House wishes her a &#8220;full recovery&#8221; and said the Biden administration is “incredibly sad to hear the news.&#8221;</p>


The Princess Of Wales Opens Evelina London’s New Children’s Day Surgery Unit

Kate Middleton Confirms Cancer Diagnosis In New Video


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>After posting its best day on Wall Street in four months Wednesday, shares of Paramount Global fell Thursday after a report indicated the media conglomerate’s controlling shareholder might not be interested in a reported $11 billion deal for the company’s major film studio.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Shares of Paramount Global dropped as much as 5.9% in intraday trading Thursday to as low as $11.77, nearly erasing its Wednesday gains, when the company’s shares surged to a one-month high of nearly $13.</p>



<p>Thursday’s losses marked Paramount’s worst day on Wall Street in over two weeks, just one day after the conglomerate’s shares posted an 11.8% daily gain on the heels of a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/media/apollo-offers-11-billion-for-paramounts-hollywood-studio-24206eab?mod=hp_lead_pos2" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Wall Street Journal</a>&nbsp;report indicating Apollo Global Management made an $11 billion offer for Paramount Pictures, valuing the studio even higher than Paramount Global’s $8.2 billion market cap.</p>



<p>By Thursday morning, Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone suggested she might not be interested in that offer, opting instead for a rival bid, anonymous sources told the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/95cf8b56-e822-4fc0-a12e-1e7ae15733fd" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Financial Times</a>.</p>



<p>Sources told the Financial Times Redstone has been in negotiations with David Ellison on a separate bid from Ellison’s Skydance Media for a majority stake in Redstone’s holding company National Amusements, through which she controls a majority stake in Paramount.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Paramount has had a series of setbacks in recent months, striking out on a deal with NBCUniversal owner Comcast and failing to land a deal with rival Warner Bros. Discovery that could have turned the burgeoning streaming wars on its head. Paramount had been engaged in merger talks with Warner Bros. Discovery, though the HBO parent company reportedly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2024/02/27/warner-bros-discovery-pauses-merger-talks-with-paramount-report-says/?sh=2eb01dbb1cf4">paused those negotiations</a>&nbsp;last month. Last August, Paramount&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/08/07/paramount-selling-simon--schuster-to-kkr-for-162-billion/?sh=3c4027576662">divested</a>&nbsp;its publishing arm Simon &amp; Schuster to private equity firm KKR in a $1.62 billion deal, culminating a two-year saga in which a previous deal to sell the publishing house fell after a Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>Paramount Pictures, on the other hand, has had a series of recent box office success stories, with major movies, including director Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and the Tom Cruise action thriller “Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One,” hitting it big. The former, an Academy Awards nominee for Best Picture, has grossed more than $157 million worldwide since its premiere last October, while the “Mission: Impossible” sequel has grossed more than $575.5 million since July, according to Box Office Mojo.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-forbes-valuation">FORBES VALUATION</h2>



<p>Ellison, the son of Google co-founder Larry Ellison, could bring major funding to Paramount should the deal go through. We estimate Larry Ellison’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/larry-ellison/?sh=127d3b0624c2">net worth</a> at roughly $159.4 billion, making him the world’s fifth-richest person.</p>


Los Angeles Economy

Paramount Stock Tumbles As $11 Billion Studio Deal Falls Into Doubt, Report Says


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Whitaker criticized Boeing’s safety culture in an interview with <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/faa-chief-issues-around-safety-culture-at-boeing-207038533652" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NBC</a>, arguing the company has prioritized production rather than safety, the latest criticism levied at the aircraft manufacturer following a January incident in which a Boeing 737 MAX 9 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH9wQOU7dbM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">door plug blew out</a> in the middle of an Alaska Airlines flight.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Whitaker told NBC anchor Lester Holt in an interview preview (the interview is set to air on &#8220;NBC Nightly News&#8221; at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday) that Boeing’s priorities have “been on production and not on safety and quality,” citing a culture survey of Boeing and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/updates-boeing-737-9-max-aircraft" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">FAA’s audit</a>&nbsp;into the company.</p>



<p>Whitaker said the FAA’s focus is to shift Boeing’s attention to safety and quality.</p>



<p>When asked if certain protocols weren’t being met in terms of Boeing’s airplane production, Whitaker said the company’s process was “not what you would’ve expected if safety is the first priority,” adding if aircraft company procedures and production don’t make for a safe experience, “then the whole system is not working the way it should.”</p>



<p>Boeing didn’t immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Boeing has been under regulatory scrutiny since January over the Alaska Airlines door plug incident, which triggered an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/EIR2024NM420001_737MAX9.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">investigation into Boeing</a>&nbsp;and a production halt of Boeing 737 MAX airplanes. An NTSB report found four bolts designed to secure the door plug were missing after a repair job was completed that required the plug to be opened. An FAA audit of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems found&nbsp;<a href="https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/updates-boeing-737-9-max-aircraft#:~:text=To%20hold%20Boeing%20accountable%20for,in%20Renton%2C%20Washington%2C%20and%20Spirit" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">non-compliance issues</a>&nbsp;in Boeing’s manufacturing process control, parts handling and storage, and product control. The company has faced safety controversies in the past: In 2019, all 737 MAX planes were ordered out of the sky for over a year after two jets crashed, separate incidents linked to a questionable flight control system.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/03/06/ntsb-says-its-absurd-boeing-still-hasnt-provided-737-max-information-for-investigation/?sh=65b50a634e35">NTSB Says It’s ‘Absurd’ Boeing Still Hasn’t Provided 737 Max Information For Investigation&nbsp;</a>(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisagarcia/2024/03/10/doj-opens-new-criminal-investigation-of-boeing-737-max-incident/?sh=3913819a4a2b">DOJ Opens New Criminal Investigation Of Boeing 737 Max Incident</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/03/07/tire-falls-off-united-airlines-boeing-flight-while-departing-san-francisco/?sh=2325077f7b72">Tire Falls Off United Airlines Boeing Flight While Departing San Francisco</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2024/03/07/ntsb-investigating-another-boeing-737-max-aircraft/?sh=3ef425caad75">NTSB Investigating Another Boeing 737 MAX Aircraft</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


US-AIRPLANE-TRAVEL-TRANSPORT

Boeing Has Put Production Over Safety, FAA Head Says Amid 737 Controversies


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Bitcoin slumped to its lowest price in weeks Tuesday, as the world’s largest cryptocurrency’s all-time high achieved last week looks to be fleeting.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Bitcoin fell 7% to below $63,000 by 2 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (10 a.m. EDT), the time zone typically used for cryptocurrencies as the digital assets are traded constantly.</p>



<p>Tuesday was bitcoin’s lowest price since March 5.</p>



<p>Bitcoin is now down about 15% from its all-time high of nearly $73,800 set last Thursday.</p>



<p>Other cryptocurrencies have similarly slumped, and prices of the next three largest digital assets – ether, Solana and Binance coin – are down more than 7% apiece over the last 24 hours.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-behind-bitcoin-s-price-drop">WHAT’S BEHIND BITCOIN’S PRICE DROP?</h2>



<p>There’s no singular catalyst for the recent bitcoin selloff, but several factors are likely at play. Bitcoin’s price is historically much more volatile than stock prices, which combined with traders’ tendency to take profits following a massive runup in asset prices can cause notable downward swings. There’s also significantly elevated trading activity for bitcoin as spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) flooded institutional money into crypto, with daily dollar-value bitcoin volumes registering their 10 largest values over the last three weeks alone, according to Yahoo Finance&nbsp;<a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BTC-USD/history?p=BTC-USD" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">data</a>. Finally, there’s been a noticeable uptick in liquidations for bitcoin futures contracts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theblock.co/data/crypto-markets/futures/btc-liquidations" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to Coinglass, which can send bitcoin prices lower as exchanges force users to close their leveraged bitcoin positions.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>$320 billion. That’s about how much the combined market capitalization of the global crypto market is down over the last week,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/all-cryptocurrencies" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to CoinGecko. Bitcoin’s $180 billion slide accounts for much of the decline.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Bitcoin’s returns remain eye popping, as its roughly 40% gain over the last six months and 130% year-to-date far outpace those of leading stock indexes. The rally, which erased the steep decline suffered by bitcoin in 2022 as the crypto industry turned sideways amid higher borrowing costs and revelations of high-profile bad actors like FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, came as equity prices rose and investors grew excited about the prospects of the ETFs, which went live in January, attracting billions of dollars of fresh capital.<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/"></a></p>


Hand holding bitcoin

Bitcoin Falls Another 7%—Down 15% From Last Week’s Record


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Apple is discussing a potential deal to integrate Google’s artificial intelligence platform Gemini into the iPhone, Bloomberg&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-18/apple-in-talks-to-license-google-gemini-for-iphone-ios-18-generative-ai-tools?srnd=homepage-asia" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;Monday, in what could be a major deal between the rival tech giants and impact the wider AI industry.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-18/apple-in-talks-to-license-google-gemini-for-iphone-ios-18-generative-ai-tools?srnd=homepage-asia" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">According to</a>&nbsp;Bloomberg, Apple is holding “active negotiations” to license Gemini’s AI models to integrate its generative AI features into an upcoming software update to the iPhone later this year.</p>



<p>Apple’s discussions with Google follow similar talks it held with Microsoft-backed OpenAI—the maker of ChatGPT and DALL-E, the report adds.</p>



<p>Apple will release iOS 18—the latest version of its mobile operating system—later this year and it is&nbsp;<a href="https://9to5mac.com/2024/02/19/ios-18-ai-features-rumors/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">expected to integrate</a>&nbsp;several AI features, including a more powerful version of the digital assistant Siri.</p>



<p>While the iPhone maker is reportedly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/52839eb2-6641-42a6-acd7-5d41e809c97a" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">working</a>&nbsp;on its own AI tools, which will run locally on its devices, the Gemini integration will allow it to tap into Google’s cloud-based and more complex generative AI services like a chatbot or image generator.</p>



<p>According to the report, the deal is yet to be finalized, and if it falls through, Apple may end up choosing an alternative AI provider like OpenAI or Anthropic.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>During Apple’s earnings call last month, CEO Tim Cook&nbsp;<a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4666956-apple-inc-aapl-q1-2024-earnings-call-transcript" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>: “In terms of generative AI… we&#8217;ve got some things that we are incredibly excited about that we&#8217;ll be talking about later this year.” He later added: “Let me just say that I think there’s a huge opportunity for Apple with generative AI and with AI, without getting into many more details or getting out ahead of myself.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>While the two companies are competitors in the smartphone market, they have for years had a multibillion-dollar deal to keep Google as the default search engine on Apple devices. That deal has come under&nbsp;<a href="http://theverge.com/2023/10/11/23913287/us-v-google-apple-search-deal" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">significant scrutiny</a>&nbsp;in the past year as Google battles a landmark antitrust case in the U.S. The search deal has allowed Google to maintain its almost uncontested dominance in search and a similar AI deal is likely to give it an edge over the likes of Microsoft, OpenAI and Meta. Because of this any potential deal between the two companies is likely to draw more scrutiny from regulators around the world.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>$18 billion. That is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/26/technology/google-apple-search-spotlight.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>&nbsp;amount of money Google pays Apple each year to remain as the default search engine on iPhones.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>Earlier this year, Samsung&nbsp;<a href="https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-and-google-cloud-join-forces-to-bring-generative-ai-to-samsung-galaxy-s24-series" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;its new flagship Galaxy G24 series of smartphones will use Gemini to power several AI features. Gemini is being used to power certain components of the phone’s text messaging, notes, voice recorder and keyboard apps. This integration included both the cloud-based Gemini Pro model and the smaller Gemini Nano model that runs locally on the phone.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-18/apple-in-talks-to-license-google-gemini-for-iphone-ios-18-generative-ai-tools?srnd=homepage-asia" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple Is in Talks to Let Google’s Gemini Power iPhone Generative AI Features</a> (Bloomberg)</p>


Apple Holds Product Unveiling Event

Apple Reportedly In Talks With Google To Integrate Gemini’s AI Service Into The iPhone


<p><strong>Globe-trotting billionaire Mo Dewji made a fortune in East Africa selling palm oil, rope, and soda. Now he claims to have the recipe for transforming Tanzania into an agribusiness powerhouse.</strong></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<p>Puffing on a nicotine vape and seated on a white leather chair in his $50 million home in Dubai, Mohammed “Mo” Dewji is waxing poetic about his plans to mechanize farming 2,500 miles away. “I want to make Africa, long term, a food basket for the world,” says the 48-year-old billionaire, who was born, raised and until recently lived in Tanzania. A framed photograph of a street in Zanzibar, the Tanzanian archipelago famous for lush white beaches, hangs on a wall behind him. “Why the hell are we not investing in agri?”</p>



<p>Dewji is well known in Tanzania, Africa’s fifth largest country with a population of 70 million. The football team owner and former politician controls a range of businesses through his consumer goods conglomerate MeTL Group, including textile manufacturing, edible oil refineries and his Mo Cola carbonated beverages line (named after himself). MeTL already grows crops like tea, avocados, and sisal (a natural fiber used in rope), which are vertically integrated into his other businesses.</p>



<p>Now Dewji wants to grow his agribusiness empire – by orders of magnitude. He is seeking to invest $250 million<strong>, </strong>including $100 million of his own capital, to buy and mechanize 100,000 hectares of farmland in Tanzania. MeTL would use the crops to feed its own businesses, then sell the surpluses to other Tanzanian firms, African countries and even European customers. Dewji says this “vision” came to him in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as soaring food and fertilizer prices worsened conditions of poverty and malnutrition in Africa.</p>



<p>Agriculture accounts for one-third of Tanzania’s annual GDP (of $75 billion), but roughly 90% of that farming is done by subsistence farmers tilling less than 5 hectares of land each. As a result, food insecurity in Tanzania is widespread: Over 30% of children are stunted, and 13 million Tanzanians live in extreme poverty, while “many others live just above the poverty line,” <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/Copy_of_tagged_Tanzania-Nutrition-Profile.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to </a>the U.S. Agency for International Development. That’s despite Tanzania being the second biggest receiver of foreign aid in Sub-Saharan Africa (behind only Ethiopia) between 1990 to 2010, <a href="https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/wp2012-037.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">receiving </a>$26.85 billion. One of those aid suppliers, the World Bank, <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2024/01/05/ida-and-afe-tanzania-a-focus-on-people-cities-and-public-institutions-for-a-better-future#:~:text=As%20of%20August%202023%2C%20the,projects%20(%241.04%20billion%20commitments)." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acknowledges</a> that Tanzania “still faces stubbornly high levels of poverty, in part as a result of dependence on low productivity agriculture.”</p>



<p>Bigger, more efficient farms could help solve Tanzania’s hunger problem. In developing countries, “Larger farms tend to be more efficient than their smaller counterparts,” a recent European Commission <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7546703/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paper</a> found. Within Africa, increasing agricultural productivity was “a substantial driver of growth and poverty reduction” in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda—in contrast to Tanzania and those countries where farming growth lagged, according to a UN <a href="https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/done-sensibly-agricultural-development-can-reduce-poverty-in-africa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>. But agribusiness also comes with costs: human displacement, environmental degradation, disruption of local trading networks upending entire communities. Dewji says the benefits outweigh the cons. “Life goes on for the villagers but [in] a much better scenario,” he says.</p>



<p>Given Dewji’s prominence, any success—or failure—will have a big impact within Tanzania and potentially beyond. “This is larger than Tanzania: a success here could have implications for the continent as a whole,” says Margaret McMillan, an economics professor at Tufts University who studies economic development in East Africa, has lived in Tanzania and heard Dewji make his agribusiness pitch at a recent conference. “If he could use it as a flagship to show how [large-scale farming] can be done successfully, that would be amazing.”</p>



<p>That is Dewji’s long-term plan. He wants to prove his agribusiness model works in Tanzania, then raise money from global investors to replicate it in other African countries. His dream is to invest over $1 billion across 400,000 hectares—about the size of Rhode Island, or 0.3% of Tanzania’s total landmass—across at least three countries, including Zambia and Mozambique. “I spoke to the Zambian president, I spoke to the Mozambique president,” Dewji assured&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>. “But I said, ‘Guys, let me first work it out in my home country first because I understand the intricacies. Let me show a project for Africa.’”</p>



<p>It’s not clear these dreams will come to fruition. Dewji has been trying to get this operation going for years. Eighteen months ago, he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/tanzanian-entrepreneur-dewji-plans-2-4-bln-grains-production-investment-via-spac-2022-07-08/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">sought&nbsp;</a>four times as much money, $4 billion, to fund an even larger version. He floated the idea of raising money by merging with a special purpose acquisition company and touted potential 10x returns. No partners came calling. “I never raised money because I failed to get the land,” he says.</p>



<p>Dewji has praised Samia Suluhu Hassan, Tanzania’s president since 2021, for promoting more investment and private sector activity. Yet he has spent two years trying to buy 100,000 hectares of Tanzanian land from Hassan’s administration, and the deal isn’t done yet. The land is occupied by villagers and small-scale farmers but is technically owned by Tanzania’s government.</p>



<p>Documents seen by&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>describe a key pillar of his proposal: cultivating sugar cane and building a sugar refinery on 39,000 hectares in Tanzania’s Rufiji District, a rural region named after Tanzania’s largest river. Some 95,000 people live in the area,&nbsp;<a href="https://rufijidc.go.tz/statistics" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">scattered across</a>&nbsp;200 villages and hamlets. MeTL’s acquisition would involve land transfers in 17 villages and the factory would sit on a 860-hectare plot, according to the documents.</p>



<p>Dewji told <em>Forbes </em>that, eventually, he wants to grow grains (wheat, rice, corn), edible oil crops (sunflowers, soybeans, palm), and plant proteins (pigeon peas, yellow gram) on the other 61,000 hectares of land he’d like to acquire.</p>



<p>There have been accusations of land-grabbing, and no wonder. Dewji wants to become Tanzania&#8217;s biggest farmer in a single stroke. “Not many people live on the targeted land,” he says, but when asked how many people live there, he declines to say. The village councils and district authorities are on-board with MeTL’s plans, Dewji adds. That hasn’t alleviated concerns about corruption.</p>



<p>“There&#8217;s a pretty widespread perception that the government is underhanded in these large-scale transactions, that agreements are not above board,” says Ayala Wineman, a professor of agricultural and food economics at Michigan State University who has researched Tanzania and East Africa. “And oftentimes, it&#8217;s with the collaboration of local leaders who benefit from agreeing to hand over land.”</p>



<p>Dewji says that any villagers and subsistence farmers displaced by MeTL will get new land to continue their farming and animal husbandry, that there will be buffer zones between his operations and their new tracts, and that MeTL will fund new roads, hospitals, schools and running water systems. The documents seen by&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>promise all that and more, including annual dividends paid to local coffers and giveaways like new tractors.<em>&nbsp;</em>“MeTL has been extremely sensitive,” says Dewji, who calls it a “win-win” proposition.</p>



<p>He’ll need to defy recent history, then.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2207398120#sec-1" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">A research paper</a>&nbsp;published last year analyzed four separate large-scale land purchases in Tanzania for the purposes of agribusiness. It found that the takeovers “exacerbate farmland inequality in nearby villages” and caused “resulting inequalities [that] are not offset by improvements in other dimensions of well-being.” These local populations are “not really benefiting from these projects in any meaningful way, be it employment, the adoption of new farming practices, improvement in food security, [or] incomes,” says Jonathan Sullivan, the study’s lead author and a professor of sustainability at the University of Arizona. “Maybe Mohammed Dewji is going to do something different, but I imagine it&#8217;s going to be pretty similar.”</p>



<p>And yet—Tanzania needs more food. Mechanized farming of staple goods like grains and proteins – as Dewji has proposed – could help feed hungry mouths through sheer economies of scale, improved efficiencies and surpluses. “In rural Tanzania, there is a lot of food acquired through purchase,” explains Wineman. “Subsistence farmers also engage with the market to access the food they need.”</p>



<p>If MeTL exports crops to other countries, as Dewji envisions, Tanzania’s budget will see some of that money. “Presumably, it could generate tax revenue for the government and foreign exchange earnings,” says McMillan, hitting on two key structural issues with Tanzania’s economy: its annual trade deficits and shrinking foreign exchange reserves. Above all, perhaps, private capital should get the chance to succeed where foreign aid has failed. One consultant for the World Bank, who spoke with&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>on the condition of anonymity, described the bank’s loans and investments in Tanzania (which total&nbsp;<a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2024/01/05/ida-and-afe-tanzania-a-focus-on-people-cities-and-public-institutions-for-a-better-future#:~:text=As%20of%20August%202023%2C%20the,projects%20(%241.04%20billion%20commitments)." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">$8.3 billion</a>) as “moderately helpful at best.”</p>



<p>If anyone could pull off such an audacious venture, it’s probably Dewji, a man steeped in global ambition and daring, at times dangerous entrepreneurship. His great grandfather, born in Gujarat, India, was one of thousands of Indian Muslims who migrated to East Africa in the 1800s. His father started MeTL in the 1970s as a commodities trading firm. Dewji studied political science at Georgetown and after a brief stint on Wall Street, returned to Tanzania in 1999 to help run the family business. He grew MeTL through a series of deals in the 2000s as Tanzania privatized loss-making state-owned enterprises. He served in his country’s parliament for a decade, between 2005 to 2015—while simultaneously running MeTL. He owns a 49% stake in Simba S.C., a professional football club in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city. He frequently posts photos of himself at matches to his 4.4 million followers.</p>



<p>But what Dewji is most famous for is being kidnapped in October 2018 by a group of armed men in Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam. The assailants kept Dewji for 10 days and demanded ransom, but in a strange twist, they released him in an abandoned field without ever receiving any payment, and no assailants were ever found guilty in a Tanzanian court of any criminal charges.</p>



<p>Who was behind this odd sequence of events? Two well-placed individuals told&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>it was widely rumored that Tanzania’s then-President John Magufuli had orchestrated the kidnapping in connection to a dispute with Dewji about MeTL’s massive sisal holdings (sisal is a fibrous plant used to make rope, carpet, shoes and paper). Dewji told&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>that the kidnapping was “&#8217;politically motivated,” but did not provide further detail, other than that he never paid a ransom. “There’s parts of the puzzle I cannot speak about,” he said in a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjPSQEsUudg" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">podcast interview</a>&nbsp;about the kidnapping, calling the whole event “a paradox.”</p>



<p>Dewji attributes his good fortune to the prayers of ordinary Tanzanians, like those who buy Mo Cola in Dar es Salaam, or those who till the land that he hopes to buy one day. “The poor of the poorest people were praying for me,” Dewji says. “I&#8217;ll tell you something: I am indebted to Tanzanians, to Africans.”</p>


Key Speakers on Day Two of The Qatar Economic Forum

Tanzania’s Richest Man Wants To Be Africa’s Biggest Farmer — If Everyone Gets Out Of His Way


<p><strong>As language models like ChatGPT and Gemini have ushered in a new age of AI in Silicon Valley, the world’s most powerful tech companies are looking ahead to drug discovery and digital biology.</strong></p>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<p>As <strong>Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang</strong> scanned the audience at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference this January in San Francisco, the biggest health tech event of the year, he acknowledged that he was on unusual ground.</p>



<p>“You’re not my normal crowd,” he said to the room of health and biology technologists, during a fireside chat with Recursion, a drug discovery firm that Nvidia pumped $50 million into last year.</p>



<p>The audience may not have been part of his core demographic, but he&#8217;s hoping that will change. Over and over again, Huang has touted digital biology as the “next amazing revolution” in technology. As the AI boom has swept Silicon Valley, Nvidia has built a more than $60 billion a year business and last summer became one of the few companies with a market cap in the trillions. In health and biotech, it sees more opportunities to fuel its growth.</p>



<p>“It&#8217;s been declared we are the next many-billion dollar business for Nvidia,” Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>. She said the company aims to provide chips, cloud infrastructure and other tools to more biotech firms.</p>



<p>Now that large language models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google DeepMind’s Gemini have mainstreamed generative AI, several of the world’s most powerful tech companies are looking to biotech as the next frontier in artificial intelligence — a frontier where AI isn’t generating funny poems from a prompt, but rather the next life-saving drug.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>“It&#8217;s been declared we are the next many-billion dollar business for Nvidia.”Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare</p>
</blockquote>



<p>At Nvidia, arguably a backbone of the AI revolution because of its powerful GPU chips, the bulk of investments at the company’s venture capital arm over the past two years have been in drug discovery. At DeepMind, the Google AI lab’s AlphaFold model — a groundbreaking tool for predicting protein structures — has been used by academic researchers over the past year to develop a &#8220;molecular&#8221; syringe to inject medicine directly into cells, and to research crops that are less dependent on pesticides. The interest in biotech is industry-wide: Microsoft, Amazon and even Salesforce have protein design projects as well.</p>



<p>While using AI in drug discovery is not exactly a new trend — DeepMind first unveiled AlphaFold in 2018 — executives at both DeepMind and Nvidia told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;that this is a breakthrough moment, thanks to a confluence of three things: the mass of training data now available, the explosion of computing resources and advancements in AI algorithms. “The three ingredients are here for the very first time,” Powell said. “This was not possible five years ago.”</p>



<p>AI has great potential in the biotech space because of its sheer complexity — just take the problem that AlphaFold targets. Proteins are the basic machinery of your body, managing a wide variety of functions. All of these functions are reliant on the three dimensional shape of a protein. Every protein is made up of a sequence of amino acids, and interactions between those amino acids and the external environment determine how the protein “folds” — which dictates its ultimate shape. Being able to predict the shape of a protein based on its amino acid sequences is of intense interest to biotech companies, which can use those insights to design everything from new drugs to improved crops to biodegradable plastics.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<p>“It was always this kind of lunatic, fringe thing. Very much out of the mainstream.”David Baker, director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington</p>
</blockquote>



<p>This is where deep learning comes in: training AI models on hundreds of millions of different protein sequences and their underlying structures help those models uncover patterns in biology without necessarily needing to do the expensive computations required by a true molecular dynamics simulation. Fully simulating proteins requires such intense computational resources that institutions have designed and built supercomputers specifically to handle this type of problem, such as the Anton 2 at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center.</p>



<p>The boom in drug discovery tech isn’t only coming from the AI tech giants. Since 2021, there have been 281 venture capital deals worldwide in AI drug discovery startups, accounting for $7.7 billion in investment, according to Pitchbook. The biggest spike occurred in 2021 as the pandemic took hold, when 105 deals were made, up from 65 the year before, tapering to 67 deals in 2023. In a&nbsp;<a href="https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q4-2023-biopharma-report" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">report</a>&nbsp;published earlier this month, the analyst firm noted that there’s still a strong level of enthusiasm “for early-stage firms integrating AI into drug discovery and development.” The rise of generative AI has also sparked increased interest, said David Baker, director of the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington.</p>



<p>“It was always this kind of lunatic, fringe thing. Very much out of the mainstream,” said Baker. Now, he said, “everyone is talking about it.” Since the Institute of Protein Design’s founding in 2012, more than 20 startups have been spun out of the program, said Baker. Ten of them — including Archon Biosciences, which develops nanomaterials for regenerative medicine and cancer, and Lila, creating treatments for fibrotic diseases — have come in recent years, since 2021.</p>



<p>At DeepMind, it wasn&#8217;t until the Covid-19 pandemic hit that researchers truly understood the stakes of their research. They&#8217;d worked for almost 5 years to develop AlphaFold, and as they were retraining the model for its second generation, the entire world began sheltering in place because of a mysterious virus. “That really brought home the importance of the problem,” Pushmeet Kohli, vice president of science for DeepMind, told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>.</p>



<p>The result of DeepMind’s retraining was AlphaFold 2, a groundbreaking model that could so accurately predict protein structures that organizers at CASP, a worldwide research contest for protein folding, emailed DeepMind to ask if the company somehow cheated, Kohli recalled, laughing.</p>



<p>The effort has been so promising that cofounder Demis Hassabis spun out a separate company at Alphabet based on AlphaFold’s breakthroughs in 2021. Called Isomorphic Labs, the startup focuses on drug discovery and is helmed by Hassabis himself. Just this year, for example, Isomorphic Labs inked research deals with&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/isomorphiclabs-website-public-artifacts/ISOMORPHIC_LABS_LILLY_07_01_24.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Lilly</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/isomorphiclabs-website-public-artifacts/ISOMORPHIC_LABS_NOVARTIS_07_01_24.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Novartis</a>&nbsp;collectively worth up to nearly $3 billion if all the milestones are met — and that doesn’t count lucrative royalties from potential drug sales that result from these partnerships.</p>



<p>In 2022, Nvidia unveiled BioNeMo, a generative AI platform that helps developers accelerate the training, deployment and scaling of large language models for drug discovery. At&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2024/02/15/nvidia-nventures-ai-investments/?sh=561e51446025">Nventures, the chip maker’s venture capital arm</a>, seven of the unit’s 19 overall deals have been in AI drug discovery startups, including Genesis Therapeutics, Terray and Generate Biomedicines — the largest of any investment category.</p>



<p>“The computer-aided design industry created the first $2 trillion chip company,” Powell said, referring to Nvidia and its stratospheric rise over the past year. “Why wouldn&#8217;t the same computer-aided&nbsp;<em>drug discovery</em>&nbsp;industry build the next trillion dollar drug company?” She added, “Which is why we are investing in the way that we are.”</p>



<p>Several other tech giants have their own protein folding efforts. Last year, Salesforce debuted ProGen, a protein-generating AI model, and Microsoft released EvoDiff, a similar, but open source model. Amazon also released protein folding tools for SageMaker, its AWS machine learning platform. Even ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, appears to be recruiting for science and drug design teams,&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandralevine/2024/01/02/tiktok-bytedance-pharmaceuticals-drug-discovery-science-biology-chemistry-ai-china/?sh=3b8b0b250874">reported</a>&nbsp;in January.</p>



<p>Still, as promising and hyped as AI drug discovery is, there are setbacks. It still takes years to get drugs through clinical trials, and while the FDA so far has okayed clinical trials for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/science-research/science-and-research-special-topics/artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-aiml-drug-development" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">over 100 new drug candidates</a>&nbsp;that use AI or machine learning for development, it it will likely be years before any hit the market.</p>



<p>In some cases, the difficulties associated with drug discovery has caused big tech companies to abandon that research. Last August, Facebook parent Meta shuttered its protein folding team. The researchers at the unit later struck out on their own, founding a company called EvolutionaryScale,&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrickcai/2023/08/25/evolutionaryscale-ai-biotech-startup-meta-researchers-funding/?sh=191e6c7e140c">reported last year</a>. Meta declined to comment on the reason for shutting down the project.</p>



<p>One important bottleneck that tech companies will need to focus on is having enough training data. Newer foundational models like GPT are reliant on reinforcement learning, a method where algorithms can process unlabeled information through trial and error. That makes them even more reliant on high-quality data, Anna Marie Wagner, head of AI for synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>. Last summer, her company&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.ginkgobioworks.com/news/news-details/2023/Ginkgo-Bioworks-and-Google-Cloud-Partner-to-Build-Next-Generation-AI-Platform-for-Biological-Engineering-and-Biosecurity/default.aspx" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">entered into</a>&nbsp;a five-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud to pair its AI expertise with Ginkgo’s ability to quickly generate biological data in its automated labs, which can then be immediately put back into the AI model as new training data. This combination, she said, helps to better optimize the discovery process.</p>



<p>Additionally, she said, Ginkgo has the ability to validate model predictions quickly. Counterintuitively, that makes the quirk of AI models sometimes hallucinating — producing wrong or misleading results to a prompt — “a feature, not a bug” because it can lead to interesting discoveries that might have been unimaginable to scientists. “We want the model to come up with the crazy stuff, because that’s where we start seeing order of magnitude improvements.”</p>



<p>Kohli puts the data problem more bluntly: “Garbage in, garbage out.” Still, as the industry works to fix those issues, he has already seen the impact that AI has had on biological research. &#8220;When I go to conferences and see the change in how biologists were doing their work earlier, and how they&#8217;re doing their work today, that&#8217;s an amazing transformation,” he said.</p>


Author: Forbes

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA