Personalized mRNA Vaccine Cuts Melanoma Recurrence in Phase 3 Trial

Walmart Posts Slowest US Sales Growth Since COVID-19

FBI Seizes Devices From Former Rep. Eric Swalwell

FDA Clears First Standalone Robot to Draw Blood

Russian Barrage Exposes Ukraine's Patriot Shortage

Personalized mRNA Vaccine Cuts Melanoma Recurrence in Phase 3 Trial

Moderna and Merck announced Aug. 19 that their experimental personalized cancer vaccine, intismeran autogene, met its primary goal in a Phase 3 melanoma trial when given with Merck's immunotherapy drug Keytruda. The trial enrolled 1,137 patients whose stage IIB through IV melanoma had been surgically removed and assigned them to receive up to nine vaccine doses with Keytruda or Keytruda alone over about a year, followed by five years of monitoring. The vaccine is custom-made from the genetic signature of each patient's tumor to train the immune system to recognize and attack matching cancer cells. The companies said the combination reduced the risk of recurrence and met a secondary goal of preventing the cancer from spreading to distant organs, but they did not release detailed figures. The interim results have not been peer-reviewed or presented in full, and the companies said they plan to share the data at a medical meeting and with regulators. The finding could mark the first successful late-stage trial of a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine after decades of limited progress in therapeutic cancer vaccines, and Moderna shares more than doubled after the announcement.

STAT / Scientific American / CBS News / CNN / NBC News / ABC News

Walmart Posts Slowest US Sales Growth Since COVID-19

Walmart posted its slowest U.S. sales growth in six years, dating to the COVID-19 pandemic, as shoppers made trade-offs amid high fuel costs. Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 2.6%, below the roughly 3.5% Wall Street expected. The company still beat profit forecasts, reporting adjusted earnings of 81 cents per share on revenue of $187.94 billion, after becoming eligible for about $2.9 billion in tariff refunds. Walmart shares fell about 9%, helping pull the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 703.84 points, or 1.32%. Higher Treasury yields added to the market pressure. The results suggested some consumers were shifting more of their spending toward discount retailers.

CNBC / NBC News / Walmart / Kiplinger / Ross Stores / SEC

FBI Seizes Devices From Former Rep. Eric Swalwell

Federal agents served a search warrant on former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., at San Francisco International Airport on Aug. 15 and seized his cellphone, then searched his Washington home the next morning, according to news reports and court documents made public Aug. 20. A document reviewed by the San Francisco Standard said agents took an iPhone and a MacBook Pro. CBS News and NBC News reported that the searches were part of a criminal investigation into sexual assault and other misconduct allegations made by several women, and warrant paperwork cited a federal law barring willful deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law. No charges have been filed, and the Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the investigation or described its scope. Swalwell resigned from the House and ended his campaign for California governor in April amid the allegations. His attorney, Sara Azari, said the documents contained nothing new and characterized the investigation as an effort to punish a critic of the administration, leaving both the underlying allegations and claims of political motivation unresolved.

CBS News / NBC News / San Francisco Standard / ABC7 New York

FDA Clears First Standalone Robot to Draw Blood

The Food and Drug Administration announced Aug. 19 that it had authorized Aletta, the first standalone robotic device cleared in the United States to draw blood from a patient's arm without hands-on operator intervention. The device uses near-infrared light and Doppler ultrasound to locate a suitable vein, distinguish it from an artery and insert a needle. The FDA said clinical data showed that when the device proceeded with a draw, its success rates were comparable to or better than those of trained phlebotomists across patients with different health conditions, skin tones and reported levels of difficulty with venous access. The authorization is limited to adults in outpatient settings, and Aletta must operate under the supervision of a person trained in phlebotomy, although one phlebotomist may oversee as many as three units. The agency cited a U.S. shortage of phlebotomists and noted that hundreds of millions of blood draws are performed nationally each year. The authorization establishes a new use of autonomous medical robotics for a common procedure while retaining trained human oversight.

FDA / WGCU / Fox 13 News

Russian Barrage Exposes Ukraine's Patriot Shortage

Russia struck Kyiv and the surrounding region with scores of missiles and drones in an overnight barrage that continued into Aug. 20, destroying the upper floors of a nine-story apartment building in the capital's Solomianskyi district. Reports published that day put the death toll between 12 and 16 as counts continued to change, with about 40 people injured. The attack also damaged homes, warehouses, a school and a children's hospital and cut power to about 50,000 households. Russian forces have increased ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv in recent months, while reporting on the latest strike linked their effectiveness in part to Ukraine's continuing shortage of American-made Patriot interceptors, which can reliably target such missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his request for additional Patriot systems after the attack. The strike underscored how Ukraine's ability to defend its cities against ballistic missiles depends on a limited supply of U.S.-made interceptors.

RTÉ / ABC News Australia / CNN / Meduza / Democracy Now!

AUGUST 21, 1863: GUERRILLA RAID MASSACRES LAWRENCE, KANSAS

Pro-Confederate guerrillas under William Quantrill attacked the abolitionist stronghold of Lawrence, Kansas, killing around 150 men and burning much of the town. The massacre, rooted in the long-running frontier conflict known as Bleeding Kansas, intensified the cycle of retaliatory violence along the Missouri–Kansas border during the lead up to the Civil War.

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Sources

1. STAT / Scientific American / CBS News / CNN / NBC News / ABC News
2. CNBC — Walmart earnings / NBC News / Walmart / Kiplinger / CNBC — Treasury yields / Ross Stores / SEC
3. CBS News / NBC News / San Francisco Standard / ABC7 New York
4. FDA / WGCU / Fox 13 News
5. RTÉ / ABC News Australia / CNN / Meduza / Democracy Now!