23andMe can now sell a genetic test for breast cancer to anyone who wants one

23andMe can now sell a genetic test for breast cancer to anyone who wants one

http://ift.tt/2D4M4fO

23andMe can now sell a genetic test for breast cancer to anyone who wants one

Tech

via Technology Review Feed – Tech Review Top Stories http://ift.tt/1XdUwhl

March 6, 2018 at 02:27PM

Intel is funding the future of large-scale VR environments

Intel is funding the future of large-scale VR environments

http://ift.tt/2G1vznV

If you’ve donned a VR headset and immersed yourself in a proper virtual reality ‘experience,’ you might have seen chills, thrills, and…not too many people at once. Today, Intel released a demo showcasing a software solution to the crowd problem the company created with The Glimpse Group. The demo part of the Intel Arena Project, as it’s named, situates the viewer in the middle of a big basketball stadium with 2,500 fans in the seats, most of which are individually rendered. Functionally it’s a proof-of-concept to show such a population can be rendered in a VR experience, but the collaboration is also publicly releasing the software and process documentation to help creators build their own large-scale virtual reality scenes.

Glimpse Group elaborated on the demo during an Unreal design event promoting the engine’s new Datasmith feature, which was used in the Intel Arena Project. The demo itself is a bit of an ad showcasing the Intel hardware that was used to make the demonstration (the (i9 chipset and Optame memory drives), which makes sense given the chipmaker’s sponsorship of the project. But the white paper Glimpse Group will release concurrently with the demo and software could help creators make large-scale environments in their VR projects.

Tech

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

March 6, 2018 at 03:45PM

Probe Into Generic Drug Price Fixing Set To Widen

Probe Into Generic Drug Price Fixing Set To Widen

http://ift.tt/2FlKRGU

stevecoleimages/Getty Images

stevecoleimages/Getty Images

Forty-five states and the Department of Justice are claiming that generic drug prices are fixed, and the alleged collusion may have cost U.S. business and consumers more than $1 billion.

In their complaint, prosecutors say that when pharmacies asked drug makers for their lowest price, the manufactures would rig the bidding process.

“The companies would work out in advance who would get the lowest price and then the other competitors may put in what we would call a cover bid,” says Michael Cole, who heads the antitrust department at the Connecticut Attorney General’s office. (Such bids give the appearance of competitive bidding.)

Through subpoenas, his team has assembled millions of texts, emails and phone calls between 2012 and 2015. The prosecutors say the records show executives divvying up customers, setting prices and giving the illusion that generic pharmaceuticals were transacted in an open and fair marketplace.

Because of this price-fixing scheme, prosecutors say health insurance premiums and copays increased. They also say tax-funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid overspent on drugs.

So far, two executives from Heritage Pharmaceuticals have pleaded guilty to antitrust crimes. Both are now feeding information to prosecutors who say the two rigged prices on, among other drugs, the common antibiotic doxycycline, which shot the price up 8,000 percent.

“To the extent that taxpayers have had to pay that bill, I think that the taxpayers should recover. And we will get involved on the civil side and recover damages for the U.S. government,” Makan Delrahim, head of the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, said at a seminar.

The fact that the Department of Justice is involved has caught the attention of class-action lawyers.

Jason Dubner, an attorney for Butler, Rubin, Saltarelli & Boyd, says the allegations are so massive that prices throughout the generic industry could have been affected. “You start to get an understanding just how widespread this alleged conspiracy was to cover so many different types of cures,” he says.

Law firms that specialize in class actions have already lined up as many as 80 companies that may have paid too much, including retail pharmacies, employee unions and insurance companies. Dubner predicts more will join as the lawsuit progresses, perhaps even individual consumers.

The pharmaceutical manufactures named in the complaint have either declined to comment or denied the allegations, saying they have a robust compliance program.

Ronny Gal, a market analyst for Sanford Bernstein, says on average, the generic drug industry has lowered prices for consumers. But, he says, in an efficient marketplace, generic drug wholesalers should have kept prices in check.

“In a market that has only three or four really large distribution organizations, they are sometimes tempted to maximize their own profits in a way that does not always 100 percent reflect the best interest of their clients,” Gal says.

This is what investigators are looking at now. In their complaint they suggest — but don’t allege — that the price-fixing conspiracy also involved drug distributors. Prosecutors are sending more subpoenas and planning a new complaint.

“It could be more generic manufacturers, it could be more drugs, it could be more entities in the distribution chain. It could be all of that,” Cole, of the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, says.

A spokesperson for McKesson, one of the largest generic distributors, said the company is cooperating with requests for information from prosecutors and that it competes aggressively for the lowest price available.

Based on what’s in the current lawsuit, Gal estimates an eventual settlement would be around $1 billion. But he says that number could go as high as $5 billion, especially if more drugs are included.

News

via NPR Topics: News http://ift.tt/2m0CM10

March 7, 2018 at 04:04AM

Audi influences Pop.Up Next flying taxi concept

Audi influences Pop.Up Next flying taxi concept

http://ift.tt/2H9zQVA

Last year at Geneva time, we reported that Airbus and ItalDesign were co-developing a rather revolutionary

flying car concept

, which was based on wheeled pods that could be picked up by flying drones. The drones themselves land and take off vertically, which has been a major part of most every flying taxi concept imagined recently. Now, the Pop.Up concept has been developed further, with

Audi

stepping in; the concept now bears the name

Pop.Up Next

.

The idea is simple: the pods ride on a skateboard-like

EV

structure on the ground. When there’s enough traffic congestion, a drone comes to get the pod and whisks it away to its desired destination. The occupants are kept up-to-date with a full-width dashboard screen.

Audi’s involvement in the project results in a

concept vehicle

bearing a reworked design, which is in keeping with the current, sharp Audi design language. However, it’s not just a rebranding exercise, as the pod has shed “a significant” amount of weight, and the interior has also been redesigned. The concept also differs from the other Airbus flying taxi development,

the Vahana

, in that it’s designed for two passengers whereas the Vahana is currently single-passenger only.

When will we see something like this in actual production? Well, that’s up for debate – while the Next seen here is certainly a step closer than the initial Pop.Up, let’s just say that you probably shouldn’t hold your breath. Check out the gallery for more.

Related Video:

Cars

via Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com

March 6, 2018 at 10:21AM