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Updated: Sean Penn, LeVar Burton and Wilmer Valderrama are among the entertainment figures on the guest list for tonight’s state dinner at the White House for Kenya.

President Joe Biden welcomed Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House in an arrival ceremony earlier in the day.

Also on the list, per a pool report: Hunter Biden, Roger Goodell, Michaela Cole, Don McLean, Sheryl Sandberg, Barbara Kingsolver and Huma Abedin. Brad Paisley will perform.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also were there, having attended the last state dinner as well. Not on the list, but arriving to the event as well was former President Barack Obama.

Journalists on the guest list include NBC News’ Lester Holt, CNN’s Bianna Golodryga, MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend and The Grio’s April Ryan.

Other industry invitees include Paramount Global’s DeDe Lea, UTA Darnell Strom and Silver Eagle Acquisition Corp.

Brooke Shields, Terry Crews and Katie Couric are among the high-profile figures added as speakers for the Tribeca Festival’s Tribeca X advertising and marketing section, now expanded into a two-day event running June 10-11 at Convene One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan.

Crews will talk about his philosophy that “everything is entertainment.” Shields will talk about the power of authentic storytelling to shift the conversation around diabetes alongside ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Couric will be joined by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla for a conversation about the power of storytelling to inspire action and build trust in communities worldwide. Byron Allen will talk about the value of independence in media. Producers Michael Sugar and Daniel Rosenberg will discuss the marketing industry, focusing on Hollywood. And CNN’s Abby Phillip will talk about maternal health with Christy Turlington Burns.

Previously announced speakers include Jon Bon Jovi and son Jesse Bongiovi and Jenna Lyons.

The Tribeca Festival, presented by Okx, announced its expanded Tribeca X programming lineup for the creative marketing and advertising community ahead of this year’s event.

The annual festival, which takes place from June 5 through 16, has hosted the Tribeca X program since 2016. This year marks the expansion of Tribeca X into a two-day program held at Convene One Liberty Plaza in Lower Manhattan.

Speakers include father-son duo Jon Bon Jovi and Jesse Bongiovi to discuss their Hampton Water wine brand and its charitable causes, “Real Housewives of New York City” alum and Executive Creative Director of FundamentalCo Jenna Lyons in conversation with founder Jonny Bauer, and supermodel Christy Turlington Burns on her non-profit Every Mother Counts.

Additional headline speakers include Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla, CEO of Publicis Media Dave Penski, CEO of Ipg Philippe Krakowsky, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer of BET Media Group Kimberly Paige, Chief...

Washington, Sep 12 (Ians) The US Food and Drug Administration (Fda) has approved newly formulated Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna that are more closely targeted to current variants of the disease.

The new Covid vaccines target the Xbb.1.5 variant, which was dominant when vaccine makers began to formulate and test a new version. They are monovalent because, unlike the earlier boosters, they do not include protection against the original virus that caused widespread infections three years ago, The New York Times reported.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to follow up on Tuesday with an advisory meeting to discuss who should get the new shots. After a final decision by the CDC’s director, millions of doses will be shipped to pharmacies, clinics and health systems nationwide within days, the media report said.

“Covid-19 remains a leading cause of death in the US and poses...

Imagine Entertainment founder Brian Grazer is among a select group of business and entertainment leaders headlining new spots for CNBC’s new “Live Ambitiously” brand campaign.

“Ambition is passion. It’s enthusiasm directed towards a singular goal. When you make a movie or television show you have to have an emotional destination for your audience,” Grazer says in the spot. “Curiosity to me is an engine. I wanna tell stories that elevate us as human beings. I’m in the feelings business. My best movies, people are crying, I wanna see people moved to tears through triumph.”

Tom Clendenin, CNBC’s senior vice president of marketing, says “Live Ambitiously” is designed to “inspire the audience to recognize and embrace their own ambition, and seize opportunities to improve their lives and financial well-being.”

“Whether you’re someone looking to run a company, or just looking to better themselves, this campaign is...

New York, Feb 1 (Ians) US pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation Pfizer Inc. said it expected to see a sharp year-on-year drop in revenues and earnings in 2023 following record highs in 2022.

Pfizer on Tuesday reported 100.3 billion of revenues and 6.58 of adjusted diluted earnings per share (Eps) in 2022, both of which hit record highs.

Pfizer’s annual revenues and adjusted diluted Eps jumped 23 per cent and 62 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

Much of the growth was driven by sales from oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid and Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty, Xinhua news agency reported.

Excluding contributions from Paxlovid and Comirnaty, Pfizer’s revenues grew 2 per cent operationally in 2022.

As the US is likely to end the Covid-19 public health emergency in May this year, less governmental spending around the world dampens the sales prospects of medical products related to Covid-19.

Pfizer expects to have 67 billion to 71 billion of revenues and 3.25 to 3.45 of adjusted diluted Eps in...

Update: CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin will debut a limited series on NBC News Now on Wednesday evening, starting with an interview with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla following back to back bouts with Covid.

Sorkin’s show, called Special Report with Andrew Ross Sorkin, will debut at 10:30 Pm Et. An early clip of the interview here.

Sorkin is the co-anchor of CNBC’s Sqwawk Box and is a financial columnist for The New York Times and editor at large of DealBook. He’s the latest figure from NBCU to provide content on the streaming service.

In the interview, Bourla pushed back on claims that Pfizer didn’t test the Covid vaccine to see if it prevented transmission. He told Sorkin that “there is no other vaccine in the world that has been tested so intensively.”

Previously, March 9: CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin will host and produce a limited series for NBC News Now,...

New York, Sep 25 (Ians) Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has announced that he has tested positive for Covid-19 again and is “feeling well”, and does not have any symptoms.

On the microblogging site, Bourla said, “while we have made great progress, the virus is still with us”.

According to CNN, the CEO said he did not get the updated Covid-19 booster shot yet because he had been waiting for three months after his previous infection. He tested positive earlier for the virus in August.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that people who have recently recovered from a Covid-19 infection wait to get boosted at least until the illness has passed and a person is no longer contagious.

The CDC said a person “may consider delaying your vaccine by three months from when your symptoms started”.

Getting infected can act like a booster and studies have...

New Delhi, Aug 26 (Ians) People in low and middle-income countries faced ‘systemic racism’ in the global Covid-19 response, leaving millions without access to vaccines, tests and treatments, a significant report revealed on Friday.

Researchers studying communities in 14 low and middle-income countries and territories found that a combination of undersupply of vaccines and treatments, underfunding of health systems, undervaluing of health workers, and poor adaptation to local needs were the key drivers behind low vaccination rates.

Moreover, unpaid community health workers have been compared to “modern day slavery”, according to the study from global health consultancy firm Matahari Global Solutions, the People’s Vaccine Alliance, and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (Itpc).

The report contradicts the repeated allegations from pharmaceutical companies and wealthy country leaders that people in lower-income countries are “vaccine hesitant”; an accusation again levelled by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla at a recent public event.

“Throughout this pandemic, low...

From the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker David France (“How to Survive a Plague”) could sense the scale of the threat looming on the horizon. A long-time health reporter who has spent decades documenting the battle against HIV and AIDS, he also knew that it would be up to science to lead the world from the brink of an unprecedented human catastrophe.

The race to develop and rollout a Covid-19 vaccine has been the defining story of recent memory, and it was the director’s need to document “the great unseen work” performed in laboratories across the world that led to his latest feature, “How to Survive a Pandemic.” “This is the largest scientific undertaking of our lifetimes,” France tells Variety, “and it deserved to be chronicled.”

“How to Survive a Pandemic,” which world premieres this week at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, is a kaleidoscopic portrait...

South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals has announced its third round of featured speakers for its upcoming conference. The 36th annual edition of SXSW is planning a hybrid event, combining in-person settings in Austin, Texas with online viewing options in accordance with health and safety protocols for Covid-19.

“We’re excited to announce an incredible group of experts and innovators across the technology, healthcare and entertainment industries, who are actively shaping the world we live in,” said chief programming officer Hugh Forrest. “Entrepreneurial luminaries such as Michael Dell and industry disruptors like Margrethe Vestager only add to our already robust lineup of creative visionaries working to build a better future.”

SXSW also announced the finalists for its 14th Swsw Pitch event, which will occur on March 12 and March 13 at the Hilton Austin Downtown. SXSW PItch invites innovators to present new technology to panels of industry experts, media outlets and investors.

A new film about the development, regulation and roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines from “How to Survive a Plague” director David France has scored a raft of international sales.

Documentary specialists Dogwoof have sold the film — which will debut on HBO and HBO Max in 2022 — into Sky in the U.K., Germany and Italy; Nrk for Norway; Dr for Denmark; Svt for Sweden; Channel 8 and YesDocu for Israel; and HBO and HBO Max in Latin America.

Filming on the documentary, which is still untitled, began in April 2020 and wrapped in October. The project is now in post-production.

“Covid-19 has proved one of the most challenging and deadly diseases for vaccine scientists,” said France in a statement. “From the first effective vaccine to the current scramble to respond to an ever-changing virus, to their politically perilous efforts reaching patients in the far corners of the earth, we have been embedded in...

The world will return to normal life as Covid-19 will end in a year, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has said, while stressing the need for annual Covid jabs. “Within a year I think we will be able to come back to normal life,” Bourla was quoted as saying in an interview on ABC’s “This Week.” […]...

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Sunday on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanapoulos that the US should return to normal within the year. Bourla cited the Covid-19 booster shots in his reasoning.

“Finally, Moderna’s CEO said this week that the pandemic is on course to be over in about a year. Do you agree with that?” Stephanapoulos asked Bourla.

“I agree that, within a year, I think we will be able to come back to normal life,” Bourla agreed, but added, “I don’t think that this means that variants will not be continuing coming. And I don’t think that this means that we should be able to live our lives without having vaccinations, basically. But that’s – again, remains to be seen.’

Bourla said an annual vaccination would be the mostly likely outcome, much as people get an annual flu vaccine to help battle those disease variants.

The initial findings of an anticipated study into the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine on children ages of 5-11 were released today, and the first results are promising.

In the second of three phases, the pharmaceutical giants enlisted 2,268 participants ages 5-11 in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain. While those ages 12 and up have been given 30 µg (microgram) doses, patients in the new study received a 10 µg dose level in a two-dose regimen.

The trial demonstrated strong immune response in the group of children one month after the second dose. That compares well – or was “non-inferior,” the companies said — to the results seen from participants ages 16-25, who were used as the control group for the analysis and were administered a two-dose regimen of 30 µg. The vaccine also was well tolerated in the younger group, with side effects generally comparable to those observed in participants ages 16-2, the companies said.

The Atlantic Festival, the signature event held each fall in Washington D.C. by The Atlantic, is returning next week as once again a virtual gathering, with a varied lineup that includes former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, writer-producer David Chase and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby.

The event also is running longer this year, from Sept. 22-24 and Sept. 27-30.

While this year has seen some return to in-person conferences and conventions, the summer uptick in cases due to the Delta variant has scrambled plans of some organizations.

The National Association of Broadcasters this week announced that it was canceling its show, slated for October, that has been one of the larger conventions held in Las Vegas. In D.C., the fall season, typically a prime time for book parties, panels and fundraisers, but organizers have been proceeding cautiously, either going all virtual or a hybrid with proof-of-vaccination or testing as in-person entry requirement.

New York, May 24 (Ians) Pfizer on Monday announced a study to explore coadministration of its pneumococcal vaccine along with a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in older adults.

Pfizer, in a statement, announced that "the first enrolled subjects have received their immunisations as part of a new study in adults ages 65 or older exploring the coadministration of the company's 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (20vPnC) candidate following a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, currently authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (Fda) under an emergency use authorisation (Eua)".

The trial aims to describe safety when both vaccines are co-administered, with follow-up six months after vaccination and to describe immune responses produced by each of the vaccines.

The trial will include 600 adults who will be recruited from the pivotal Phase 3 Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine trial and will have received their second dose of the vaccine at least six months...

New York, Feb 26 (Ians) Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech said that they have begun an evaluation of the safety and immunogenicity of a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine (BNT162b2).

It is to understand the effect of a booster on immunity against Covid-19 caused by the circulating and potential newly emerging Sars-CoV-2 variants, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.

"While we have not seen any evidence that the circulating variants result in a loss of protection provided by our vaccine, we are taking multiple steps to act decisively and be ready in case a strain becomes resistant to the protection afforded by the vaccine," said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer.

"This booster study is critical to understanding the safety of a third dose and immunity against circulating strains," Bourla added.

The study will draw upon participants from the Phase 1 study in the US...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he had planned to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration but won’t now, preferring to stay close in case of demonstrations at the state Capitol building in Albany.

At a press briefing Monday, Cuomo also said New York’s Covid-19 cases are falling after a holiday surge. But clamor for the vaccine is rising – after the Federal government expanded eligibility, but without shipping more doses — so he’s asked NY-based Pfizer if the state could purchase them directly.

Authorities in all 50 states are on high alert for possible unrest on Inauguration Day Wednesday by pro-Trump demonstrators following the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6 to disrupt the electoral count.

“I was planning to go to the inauguration. I will not be going. There is talk about demonstrations at state Capitols, and advisories … We have made preparations here with the state police.

New York City-based leaders from across the business spectrum have urged Congress to certify the presidential election results as scheduled on Wednesday, warning that any delays would “run counter to the essential tenets of our democracy.”

The letter, issued today, comes as Congress braces for a showdown on Wednesday between 11 incumbent and incoming U.S. senators and some 140 GOP members of the House vowing to contest the electoral college results from their states. The push is part of President Donald Trump’s increasingly desperate campaign to falsely claim that he prevailed in the Nov. 3 presidential election over his Democratic challenger, President-elect Joe Biden. Trump’s legal challenges to the election have been dismissed by judges in multiple states.

The two-paragraph statement from the Partnership for New York City organization was signed by more than 170 business leaders, including Hearst CEO Steve Swartz, Altice CEO Dexter Goei, Conde Nast CEO Roger Lynch,...

More than eight months into humanity’s fight with Covid-19, American drugmaker Pfizer has announced that an early vaccine trial has been successful in preventing the virus, suggesting that it is more than 90% effective in patients with no previous exposure to Covid.

According to The New York Times, the information came via a press release, not a peer-reviewed medical journal, which means the results are not entirely definitive. Nevertheless, the news is hopeful in the face of Covid-19, which has thus far killed 1.2 million people and continues to rage throughout the U.