Diagnostics

  • Covid is having one huge positive impact if governments seize it.
  • In its results Roche said of diagnostics equipment – “we are installing in one year what we have installed the prior five years. So we are more than doubling our installed base out there of the systems.
  • This huge increase in capacity, they go on to say, could be used to detect HPV (saving 300,000 women’s lives who die of cervical cancer every year), HepC (helping 80 million people who live with this disease), and Tuberculosis (“one-fifth of population has infection of the bacteria of tuberculosis worldwide”).
  • We need to start to recognize what health care systems can do by intervening much earlier. And I have to say, there is such an opportunity and governments need to get going on this. I’m sorry to get a bit emotional on this, but I have been fighting for 10 years with governments to include HPV screening and all the clinical data is out there, and they need to get going, and not just you know let it go, like they have in the past.

Inflationary Pressures

  • Some quotes on the topic courtesy of The Transcript.
  • “…we do expect some significant cost inflation in the year…The top two inflation drivers for this year are expected to be pulp and polymer based materials. Together those two input costs represent more than half of the inflation outlook.” – Kimberly-Clark (KMB) CFO Maria Henry 
  • “We expect prices to be positive based on all the inflation that we are seeing.” – 3M (MMM) CFO Monish Patolawala 
  • “…the transportation market is very tight. Spot market rates have increased by more than 30%…And just a bit more color on commodities…we see headwinds on our major commodities right now. But not only on our major commodities, but some of the smaller purchases of raw and packing materials that we use across the rest of our business.” – Church & Dwight (CHD) EVP-Global Operations Rick Spann 
  • “…we are starting to see a little bit of inflationary pressure, particularly around freight and a little bit in the supply chain as well.” – Danaher (DHR) CFO Matt McGrew 

74 NYT Facts

  • “Each day, our editors collect the most interesting, striking or delightful facts to appear in articles throughout the paper. Here are 74 from the past year that were the most revealing.”
  • Great list from NYT. A few examples:
  • Brooks Brothers, which Henry Sands Brooks founded in Manhattan in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in the United States.
  • Often, the screams we hear in movies and TV are created by doubles and voice actors. One stock scream is so well-used it’s got a name, the Wilhelm. It’s in hundreds of films.
WordPress Cookie Notice by Real Cookie Banner