#merck
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Capitalists hate capitalism
As the Marxist agitator Adam Smith once said, “People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”
Smith understood that capitalists hate capitalism. They don’t want to compete with one another, because that would interfere with their ability to raise the prices their customers pay and reduce the wages they pay their workers. Thus Peter Thiel’s anticapitalist rallying cry, “competition is for losers,” or Warren Buffett’s extreme horniness for businesses with “wide, sustainable moats.”
These anti-capitalist capitalists love big government. They love no-bid military contracts, they love ACA subsidies for health insurance companies, they love Farm Bill cash for Cargill and Monsanto. What they don’t love is markets.
Case in point: pharma giant Merck. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes a provision that allows Medicare to (finally) start (weakly) negotiating the prices it pays for (a tiny handful of) drugs. If you’re scratching your head and wondering if you understood that correctly, let me assure you, you did: the US government is currently prohibited from negotiating drug prices when it bargains with pharma companies.
In other words: Medicare simply pays a pharma companies — whose products build on billions in publicly funded basic research, whose taxes are reduced by billions in research credits, whose patents are backstopped by billions in enforcement — whatever it demands.
To do otherwise, you see, would be socialism. Markets are “efficient” because they “discover prices” through bidding and selling. In the case of publicly purchased drugs, the price that Uncle Sucker “discovers” is inevitably “a titanic sum” or possibly “add a couple more zeroes, wouldya?”
Enter the IRA. Starting in 2026, Medicare will be permitted to negotiate the price of ten (10) drugs. The negotiations will use the prices of other drugs from the dysfunctional, monopolized market as a starting point and go up from there. The negotiations go on for three years, and there are multiple stages where pharma companies can hit pause with court challenges:
https://prospect.org/health/2023-05-11-regulators-bungling-drug-price-reform/
The system will not consider the prices that Medicaid or the VA (which are allowed to bargain on prices) pay. Nor will it consider the prices that other governments pay — the US is alone in the wealthy world in offering the anticapitalist price-taking posture when dickering with the pharma companies.
But this isn’t enough for Merck. They are suing the Biden administration over the IRA’s drug pricing plan, arguing that it is an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/06/merck-sues-biden-administration-over-medicare-drug-price-negotiations.html
Merck is represented by Big Law firm Jones Day, who made their bones by representing the RJ Reynolds from smokers with lung-cancer, arguing that the smoking/cancer link wasn’t scientifically sound. That’s not the only fanciful argument they put before a judge: Jones Day also represented Trump in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election (they also hired Trump’s counsel Don McGahn as he exited the White House’s revolving door).
As Ryan Cooper writes for The American Prospect, Merck’s argument is that the “fair market” value of its drugs can only be discovered if its single largest customer — Medicare — simply pays whatever Merck demands of it:
https://prospect.org/health/2023-06-08-merck-negotiating-drug-prices-unconstitutional/
They explicitly denounce the idea that a powerful buyer should use its market power to extract price concessions from sellers like Merck: “leveraging all federal insurance benefits (amounting to over half of the prescription drug market) to coerce companies to abandon their First and Fifth Amendment rights is a quintessential unconstitutional condition.”
Rebutting this argument, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said, “negotiating for the best price is as American as apple pie. Since when is competition in this American system a bad thing? Why should we be the patsies around the world and pay the highest prices for medicines?”
The irony here is that Merck itself is a very powerful buyer. Whether negotiating commercial leases, raw materials or wages, Merck is ruthless in extracting the lowest prices it can from its suppliers. The company attained its massive scale the old fashioned way: buying it. By drawing on its nearly limitless access to the capital markets, Merck bought out dozens of its competitors:
https://mergr.com/merck-acquisitions
Anticapitalist investors funded these acquisitions in the expectation that Merck would be able to use its market dominance to pay suppliers less, charge customers more, and use some of the resulting windfall to corrupt and bully its regulators so that it could buy still more companies, charge still higher prices, and impose crushingly low prices on still more suppliers.
The IRA’s drug-bargaining provisions are extraordinarily weak. When they were first mooted in 2021, I talked about how Democrats were caving on muscular drug price controls that would benefit every American (except a handful of pharma shareholders):
https://pluralistic.net/2021/11/18/bipartisan-consensus/#corruption
They did so despite wild, bipartisan support for imposing price discipline on Big Pharma, and ending the 300% premium Americans pay for their drugs relative to their cousins abroad. 95% of Democrats support strong price controls; so do 82% of independents — and 71% of Republicans:
https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2021/11/healthcare-affordability--majority-of-adults-support-significant-changes-to-the-health-system.html
No one believes Big Pharma’s scare stories about how this would kill R&D: 93% of Americans reject this idea, including 90% of Republicans. They’re right — nearly all US basic pharma R&D is directly funded by the federal government, with pharma companies privatizing the gains:
https://khn.org/news/article/public-opinion-prescription-drug-prices-democratic-plan/
Despite the fact that really whipping the shit out of Big Pharma would be both popular and good for America, the Dems’ final version of pharma bargaining is a barely-there nothingburger where ten drugs will become slightly cheaper, after the next federal election. This is called “political realism” and it’s a fantasy.
The idea that limiting drug controls to the faintest, most modest measures would make them easier to attain was obvious nonsense from the start, and Merck’s anticapitalist lawsuit proves it. Merck will settle for nothing less than total central planning — by Merck. For Merck, the role of the federal government is to wave through a stream of mergers culminating in Merck’s ownership of every major drug; patent extensions for these drugs to carry them into the 25th century and beyond, and unlimited sums paid for these drugs on Medicare.
Given all that, there would have been no downside to the Dems passing an IRA that subjected the drug companies the same modest, commensense, market-based discipline we see in Canada, or the UK, or France, or Germany, or Switzerland.
But that’s not the IRA we got. Instead of defending a big, visionary program in court, the Biden admin is facing down Jones Day and Merck to defend the most yawn-inducing, incrementalist half-measure. What a wasted opportunity.
If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/09/commissar-merck#price-giver
[Image ID: A caricature of a businessman with a money-bag for a head and a stickpin bearing the Merck logo, standing atop a pile of bundled $100 bills. At the bottom of the pile, a frowning, disheveled Uncle Sam offers up a $100 bill.]
Image:
Flying Logos (modified)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Over_$1,000,000_dollars_in_USD_$100_bill_stacks.png
CC BY-SA 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
#pluralistic#merck#guillotine watch#big pharma#markets#anticapitalism#capitalism#pharma#whiners#bargaining power#price makers#price takers#uncle sucker#inflation reduction act#ira
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Moderna and Merck have created a vaccine for melanoma!
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/benefits-moderna-merck-melanoma-vaccine-plus-keytruda-extend-three-years-2023-12-14/
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This comic was published in April 1944 issue of Baker's Digest (reprinted from Merck Review?). Of course it's hilarious that the diver's idea of the most "valuable medicine" is the scotch but it's telling of the war-time period what the other cases of medicines were. Penicillin was of grave importance, there are also cases of vitamins since malnutrition was a worldwide issue, there are malarial drugs like Atabrine, there is also a case of DDT used at the time to prevent malaria causing mosquitos and other pests that harm the human body.
Baker's digest. April 1944.
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Chi possiede il CDC?
Molti di voi sono comprensibilmente indignati per la recente decisione unanime del CDC di aggiungere il vaccino COVID-19 al calendario pediatrico.
Source: Oct 21, 2022; by A Midwestern Doctor on The Forgotten Side of Medicine
(more…) “”
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#ACIP#Anthony Fauci#Astra Zeneca#Aziende Biotecnologiche#Big Biotech#CDC#Conflitto Interessi#Congresso#Corruzione#Covid-19#Esperti#FDA#Finanziamenti#FOIA#Fondazione#Gilead#Indagine#Johnson & Johnson#Linee Guida#Merck#NIH#Pediatria#Politica#Processo Legislativo#Remdesivir#Royalties#Salute Pubblica#Vaccino Covid
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“Son esprit et son humour faisaient de lui un compagnon agréable en société, et bien que son noble cœur eût dû lui acquérir partout des amis, il n’en trouvait qu’en fort petit nombre. Comme sa perspicacité l’entraînait constamment à porter des jugements sur les hommes et les choses, ses décisions étaient souvent dures et tranchées. Et quand il réglait son compte à un faible d’esprit qui avait vécu il y a mille ans de cela, son auditeur avait souvent du mal à savoir, même en tête-à-tête, si l’allusion ne lui était pas destinée.”
Johann Heinrich Merck, Ecrits choisis sur la belle littérature et l’art, Oldenburg, Editions Adolf Stahr, 1840.
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They broke the pact with us
#Amazon #Microsoft #Apple #Alphabet invest in #health vs #Pfizer #Merck #GSK
#govts,#media pretend no huge no. #deaths,#injuries by #vax
$12 bn to US #doctors from #Pharma,med. giants in 10 yrs
#crime surge: #progressives free criminals just arrested
https://salvatoremercogliano.blogspot.com/2024/04/they-broke-pact-with-us.html?spref=tw
#amazon#microsoft#apple#alphabet#pfizer#merck#gsk#vax#doctors#pharma#crimes#progressive#offenders#free
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Dailycompound, Lovastatin
Why does Red Yeast Rice have a lipid-lowering effect? In 1979, Professor Endo Akira of Japan isolated an active chemical "Monacolin K" from Monascus purpureus. Around the same time, Merck Sharp & Dohme, MSD scientists also isolated the compound "Mevinolin" from Aspergillus terreus. The study found that the two teams found the same substance. This HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor has a significant lipid-lowering effect, which is also one of the main active ingredients of monasqu's lipid-lowering effect.
Later, Merck developed the lipid-lowering drug "Lovastatin" and in 1987, it was approved for medical use, the first statin on the market. Lovastatin has few side effects, common side effects include constipation, diarrhea, muscle pain and weakness, etc., but in serious cases, it may cause adverse effects on the musculoskeletal system and liver, and may also lead to birth defects (such as bone malformations, learning disabilities). Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and patients with liver disease should be cautious about taking monosaccharide health products.
#merck#lovastatin#Red Yeast Rice#red rice#chemblr#organic chemicals#molecule#chemistry#medicine#compound#kingdraw#did u know#japan#side effects
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Merck kritisiert Innovationspolitik der Bundesregierung
Merck kritisiert Innovationspolitik der Bundesregierung | #Merck
#Chemie #Innovationspolitik #Bundesregierung
Nach Ansicht von Merck-Chefin Belén Garijo werden hohe Subventionen allein nicht ausreichen, um mehr innovative Unternehmen nach Deutschland zu holen. “Wir müssen endlich diese Bürokratie abbauen, sonst verlieren wir im Wettbewerb”, sagte Garijo der Wochenzeitung “Die Zeit”.
“Meinem Eindruck nach ist der Politik gar nicht bewusst, wie groß der Zeitdruck ist.” Als Beispiel nennt die…
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Merck kritisiert Innovationspolitik der Bundesregierung
Merck kritisiert Innovationspolitik der Bundesregierung | #Merck
#Chemie #Innovationspolitik #Bundesregierung
Nach Ansicht von Merck-Chefin Belén Garijo werden hohe Subventionen allein nicht ausreichen, um mehr innovative Unternehmen nach Deutschland zu holen. “Wir müssen endlich diese Bürokratie abbauen, sonst verlieren wir im Wettbewerb”, sagte Garijo der Wochenzeitung “Die Zeit”.
“Meinem Eindruck nach ist der Politik gar nicht bewusst, wie groß der Zeitdruck ist.” Als Beispiel nennt die…
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Novel mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Combating High-Risk Melanoma: Trial Results
An experimental mRNA vaccine, in combination with immunotherapy, exhibits significant promise in addressing high-risk forms of melanoma, according to recent reports from the drugmakers involved in the trial.
Trial Results: Promising Outcomes in High-Risk Melanoma
In a three-year follow-up of participants who had undergone complete removal of stage III or IV melanoma but remained at a high risk of cancer recurrence, those who received the mRNA vaccine from Moderna in conjunction with Merck’s Keytruda immunotherapy demonstrated notable advantages. The joint treatment showcased a 49% reduction in the risk of cancer recurrence or death. Additionally, there was a 62% lower risk of distant tumor cell spread or death compared to those who solely received Keytruda, the companies highlighted in a recent press release.
Progressive Benefits Over Time
The findings built upon the earlier two-year follow-up, which reported a 44% lower risk of recurrence or death and a 65% lower risk of distant metastasis or death among individuals who received both Keytruda and the mRNA vaccine, known as mRNA-4157/V940, compared to those treated solely with Keytruda.
Safety Profile and Adverse Events
However, around a quarter of the trial participants receiving Keytruda alongside the vaccine reported experiencing serious adverse events attributed to the treatment. This figure stood at about 20% for those treated solely with Keytruda. Common side effects associated with the vaccine included fatigue, pain at the injection site, and chills.
Regulatory Status and Future Prospects
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted a breakthrough therapy designation to mRNA-4157/V940 in combination with Keytruda, acknowledging its potential as a significant advancement over existing therapies. This status expedites the development and review process of drugs aimed at treating severe conditions.
While the data from the Phase 2b trial has not undergone peer review or publication in a professional journal, Moderna and Merck have initiated Phase 3 trials focusing on stage IIB-IV melanoma and non-small-cell lung cancer. Their future plans involve expanding research to encompass a wider spectrum of tumor types.
Melanoma Statistics and Impact
Melanoma, accounting for just 1% of all skin cancers, contributes to a majority of skin cancer-related fatalities, as highlighted by the American Cancer Society. In 2023, it was estimated that nearly 100,000 new melanoma cases would be diagnosed in the US, leading to nearly 8,000 fatalities attributed to the disease.
As research and trials progress, the collaborative efforts between Moderna and Merck offer promising prospects in addressing the challenges posed by high-risk melanoma, potentially reshaping treatment protocols and outcomes for affected individuals.
Curious to learn more? Explore our articles on Enterprise Wired
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The latest on Moderna, Apellis, and Merck
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Hello, everyone. Damian here with the fallout from Pfizer’s downbeat update, a new entrant in obesity research, and an orthogonal CRISPR business.
The need-to-know this morning
Apellis Pharmaceuticals said a European advisory committee is expected to recommend against the…
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CNR, I DATI SULLA VIOLENZA DI GENERE IN ITALIA. 2,5 MILIONI DI DONNE NEL 2022
L’Istituto di fisiologia clinica del CNR ha rilevato quanto siano diffuse in Italia esperienze legate a episodi di violenza nella popolazione femminile tra i 18 e gli 84 anni, attraverso lo studio IPSAD®, una ricerca campionaria ripetuta con cadenza triennale dal 2001, che ha visto nel 2022 la partecipazione di oltre 5.000 residenti in circa 100 comuni italiani. Lo studio è basato sulla definizione di “violenza” fornita dall’Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità, secondo la quale il termine si riferisce “all’utilizzo intenzionale della forza fisica o del potere, minacciato o effettivo, contro sé stessi, un’altra persona o contro un gruppo o una comunità, che comporta o ha una elevata probabilità di comportare lesioni, morte, danno psicologico, malformazioni o privazione”. I dati emersi forniscono l’evidenza di un fenomeno particolarmente esteso e solo in parte “visibile”: sono, infatti, poco meno di 12milioni e 500mila (50,9%) le donne tra i 18 e gli 84 anni che hanno riferito di essere state vittime almeno una volta, nel corso della propria vita, di episodi di violenza psicologica e fisica, ma solo il 5% ha denunciato l’accaduto. Oltre 2 milioni e mezzo le donne (10,1%) che nel corso del 2022 riferiscono di vivere attualmente situazioni di violenza psicologica, subendo atti di controllo da parte di persone vicine, denigrazione e umiliazioni; mentre circa 12milioni (50,4%) hanno sperimentato questo tipo di violenze nel corso della propria vita. Tali atti vengono perpetrati soprattutto da conoscenti/amici (34,2%), da familiari conviventi (25,4%) e dal partner (25,1%). Sono circa 80.000 le donne attualmente vittime di violenza fisica mentre poco meno di 2milioni (8,7%) hanno riferito di aver avuto nel corso della propria vita esperienza di persone vicine che sistematicamente e ripetutamente nel tempo, le “colpivano con forza o le trattenevano contro la loro volontà”. Gli autori di questi atti di violenza fisica sono soprattutto familiari conviventi (46,9%) ed ex partner (35,6%). A subire episodi di violenza sono soprattutto donne con meno di 60 anni con un livello di istruzione medio-alto, un lavoro e un reddito medio, coniugate e conviventi con il partner e oltre la metà ha figli.
GIOVANI, SUL PODIO SALUTE FISICA, EMOTIVA, RELAZIONI PERSONALI E SOSTENIBILITA’. UN EQUILIBRIO TRA LAVORO E VITA PRIVATA
La Generazione Z ha parlato chiaro e forte: 7 ragazzi su 10 mettono al primo posto l'equilibrio tra vita personale e lavoro rispetto all’avere uno stipendio più cospicuo. Questo dato emerge in un sondaggio su 1.800 studenti tra i 13 e i 24 anni, condotto da ScuolaZoo, in collaborazione con Merck Italia, Merz Aesthetics e B. Braun, e presentato all'evento "Mind The Gap - Azienda Z - Istruzioni per l'uso”, svoltosi a Milano. Inoltre i giovani italiani, tra gli aspetti più rilevanti della loro vita mettono al primo posto la salute fisica (93% degli intervistati), seguita da quella emotiva, a pari merito con le relazioni personali (92%). Al terzo posto l’impegno verso la sostenibilità (87%) e al quarto il successo professionale (85%). A breve distanza l’equità di genere (84%). Questi dati emergono dall’indagine pubblicata lo scorso giugno, promossa da Merck con il supporto tecnico di GAD3, dal titolo: “Salute emotiva della Generazione Z e dei Millenials: cosa muove i giovani europei?”, che ha coinvolto circa 7.500 giovani tra i 19 e i 36 anni (di cui oltre 600 Italiani), di 12 Paesi europei. I risultati sono stati analizzati su due fasce di età: 19 – 26 anni (Generazione Z) e 26 – 36 anni (Millenials). Viene posto l’accento su una serie di aspetti che possano favorire il progetto di costruire una famiglia. In primo piano, dunque, l’equilibrio tra lavoro e vita privata: per l’89% degli intervistati un giusto bilanciamento tra la sfera emotiva e quella personale costituisce anche un fattore determinante per restare in un’azienda. Importante è anche l’attenzione posta ad adottare uno stile di vita “sostenibile”, perché considerato “essenziale” per il benessere delle generazioni future (21,6% del campione). Alcuni dati:
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Il 92% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z considera la salute emotiva e le relazioni personali come aspetti importanti della propria vita
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Il 79% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z pensa spesso alla sua salute emotiva (contro 76% Global)
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Per il 32,3% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z la salute emotiva è un argomento comune nelle conversazioni con gli amici e con il contesto sociale (contro 32,5% Global)
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22,4% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z è seguito in terapia
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Per il 37,2% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z l’uso dei social media è una grande fonte di ispirazione per apprendere nuove competenze e provare nuove cose
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Per il 43,9% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z l’uso dei social media porta ad un rischio abbastanza alto di esporsi a Fake News
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L’88% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z ritiene il successo professionale un aspetto importante della propria vita
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Per 84% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z è importante l’uguaglianza di genere
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Il 28,7% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z usa regolarmente strumenti tecnologici per monitorare la propria salute emotiva
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Quando si parla di consapevolezza e conoscenza della malattia il 59,6% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z pone attenzione alle testimonianze personali
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L’81% dei giovani italiani della Generazione Z vorrebbe che nel futuro del sistema sanitario ci fosse una medicina e trattamenti più personalizzati
Ascoltiamo il commento di Iris Buttinoni, Head of Communication Merck Italia.
Approfondimenti e altre notizie sono nel portale Salutedomani.com e Saluteh24.com, nella pagina Facebook salutedomanicom, twitter @salutedomani e nel canale gratuito di telegram Salutedomani
#buttinoni#cnr#dati#donne#famiglia#generazione#genere#giovani#indagine#lavoro#marito#merck#millenials#partner#podcast#relazioni#salutedomani#sostenibilità#violenza#z
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Gardasil
Courte vidéo de 10 minutes qui présente les dangers du Gardasil, son rapport bénéfices/risques, etc ; cela eu égard au fait qu'une vaccination de masse débutait dans les collèges français dans le courant de la semaine du 2 octobre 2023. En outre, le site citoyen Hypatie vous présente de façon détaillée un comparatif des notices du vaxx établies d'une part par la FDA (USA) et d'autre part par l'EMA (UE) (1).
‣ (sans espace) Chaîne Odysee « SACRÉS VACCINS », « Avez-vous lu les notices du Gardasil ? », pub. 3 oct. 2023, https :// odysee . com / @ SacrésVaccins:7 / NoticesGardasil:5 (cons. 7 oct. 2023).
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(1) Hypatie (blog citoyen), « Avez-vous lu les notices du Gardasil ? », pub. 2 oct. 2023, https://alutotal.wordpress.com/2023/10/02/avez-vous-lu-les-notices-du-gardasil/ (cons. 7 oct. 2023).
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Merck abandonó su oferta para desarrollar una vacuna contra el coronavirus https://bit.ly/3Zpegpx
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