NantHealth stock plummets on report of self-dealing

Danny Moloshok / AP

The stock of cancer testing company NantHealth cratered by more than 23% at the close of Monday to an all-time low of $5.50 a share after an investigation by Rebecca Robbins at STAT found that NantHealth's founder and CEO, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, steered a charitable donation back to his company.

Soon-Shiong gave $12 million to the University of Utah, but a contract required $10 million to be funneled back to NantHealth for genetic testing. Tax experts interviewed by STAT said the deal was at best an "optics problem" and at worst a form of money laundering.

Why this matters: Soon-Shiong, the world's richest physician who has talked with President Trump about being a "health care czar," has been criticized for inflating his own business claims. This report provides damning evidence about the extent of Soon-Shiong's actions to prop up one of his struggling companies.

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Updated 9 mins ago - Science

Deadly storm Zeta pummels parts of Alabama and Florida

A satellite image of Hurricane Zeta. Photo: National Hurricane Center/NOAA

Former Hurricane Zeta has killed at least one person after a downed power line electrocuted a 55-year-old in Louisiana as the storm's powerful winds and heavy rainfall moved into Alabama overnight.

What's happening: After "battering southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi," Zeta weakened to a tropical storm over central Alabama early on Thursday, per the National Hurricane Center.

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Rebecca Falconer
1 hour ago - World

Taiwan reaches a record 200 days with no local coronavirus cases

Catholics go through containment protocols including body-temperature measurement and hands-sanitisation before entering the Saint Christopher Parish Church, Taipei City, Taiwan, in July. Photo: Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Taiwan on Thursday marked no locally transmitted coronavirus cases for 200 days, as the island of 23 million people's total number of infections reported stands at 550 and the COVID-19 death toll at seven.

Why it matters: Nowhere else in the world has reached such a milestone. While COVID-19 cases surge across the U.S. and Europe, Taiwan's last locally transmitted case was on April 12. Experts credit tightly regulated travel, early border closure, "rigorous contact tracing, technology-enforced quarantine and universal mask wearing," along with the island state's previous experience with the SARS virus, per Bloomberg.

Go deeper: As Taiwan's profile rises, so does risk of conflict with China

Axios
Updated 2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Politics: Biden ahead in Wisconsin, Michigan as cases surge in the Midwest.
  2. Health: Fauci says U.S. may not return to normal until 2022 — Trump's testing czar: Surge "is real" and not just caused by more tests — Some coronavirus survivors have "autoantibodies."
  3. Business: Consumer confidence sinking — Testing is a windfall.
  4. World: Europe faces "stronger and deadlier" wave — France imposes lockdown — Germany to close bars and restaurants for a month.
  5. Sports: Boston Marathon delayed — MLB to investigate Dodgers player who joined celebration after positive COVID test.
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