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Siemens Healthineers to buy Varian Medical Systems for $16.4 billion

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

Siemens Healthineers, a medical tech affiliate of Siemens, agreed to buy Palo Alto-based cancer therapy company Varian Medical Systems for $16.4 billion in cash.

Why it matters: It would be the health care sector's largest merger so far in 2020.

  • The deal values Varian shares at $177.50, a 24% premium to Friday's closing price and a 42% premium to its 30-day weighted average.

The bottom line, via Axios' Bob Herman: It’s a play for a very profitable cancer device/machine company, and a bet that not even the pandemic will slow down the demand for new cancer technologies.

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Sep 17, 2020 - Health

Cancer death rates drop but Black Americans still face highest risk

Adapted from the National Cancer Institute; Chart: Naema Ahmed/Axios 

There's some good news in 2020: Cancer death rates have been falling overall, and the gap between racial and ethnic groups has been narrowing.

Yes, but: Decades of systemic racism and the structures developed under it continue to limit the ability of Americans to benefit equally from cancer advances, some medical experts tell Axios, as seen by Black Americans who've had the highest death rate from cancer for 40 years. And the pandemic is expected to exacerbate the problem further.

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Putin foe Navalny to be detained for 30 days after returning to Moscow

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Photo: Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty Images

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been ordered to remain in pre-trial detention for 30 days, following his arrest upon returning to Russia on Sunday for the first time since a failed assassination attempt last year.

Why it matters: The detention of Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and the most prominent domestic critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has already set off a chorus of condemnations from leaders in Europe and the U.S.

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Axios
2 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Biden picks Warren allies to lead SEC, CFPB

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

President-elect Joe Biden has selected FTC commissioner Rohit Chopra to be the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Obama-era Wall Street regulator Gary Gensler to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Why it matters: Both picks are progressive allies of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and viewed as likely to take aggressive steps to regulate big business.

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