Upstart insurers struggle - The future of GSK - Experts are masking up

Hello,

Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer, and today in healthcare news:

• We compared the four health insurance upstarts that have gone public this year;
• Why a top biotech analyst thinks an activist investor is getting one big thing wrong about GSK;
• Vaccinated health officials are still wearing masks indoors amid the spread of the Delta variant.

If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Comments, tips? Email me at lramsey@insider.com or tweet @lydiaramsey125. Let's get to it...

4 hot health-insurer upstarts have gone public this year. Only one is trading up.

• Four of five closely watched health-insurer upstarts have gone public in 2021.
• Each went public with big valuations, even though they are all unprofitable.

Here's how they've performed in the stock market so far>>

An activist investor has one big thing wrong about pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline, according to a top Wall Street analyst

• The activist investor Elliott Management is pushing for change at the pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline.
• Among its suggestions, Elliott wants GSK to invest more in its internal R&D efforts.
• Industry analyst Geoffrey Porges said M&A and share buybacks are better options.

Get the full story>>

Vaccinated US health experts are wearing masks indoors as the Delta variant spreads

• The CDC says if you're fully vaccinated, you do not need to wear your mask indoors in public.
• But many leading health experts are still being cautious, masking around others when they don't know their status.
• Vaccines still work well against severe cases of the Delta variant, but many experts say "why take the risk" of even a mild case?

Find out more>>

More stories we're reading:

• Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine is less effective at preventing Delta infections than other variants, but still protects against severe illness, preliminary Israeli study says (Insider)
• Dr. Eric Topol argues it's time for the FDA to fully approve Pfizer/BioNTech's and Moderna's vaccines (The New York Times)
• Johnson & Johnson says its COVID-19 vaccine should work against the Delta variant, citing 2 small studies (Insider)
• EQT and Goldman are buying contract-research organization Parexel in an $8.5 billion deal (The Wall Street Journal)

- Lydia