Happy Friday! It’s West Coast biotech reporter Jonathan Wosen with you once more. Here’s some news to peruse as you kick off the weekend, from an estimate of how many lives Covid-19 vaccines have saved to the discovery of gargantuan bacteria you can see with the naked eye.

A staggering estimate of how many lives Covid-19 vaccines saved

More than 6.3 million people have died worldwide from Covid-19. But in a new study, researchers show that things would have been much, much worse without vaccines. U.K. scientists used mathematical models to estimate that vaccines prevented 14 million Covid-19 deaths during the first year of the vaccine rollout, and possibly saved closer to 20 million lives.

It’s not all good news, though. Researchers also found that, in low-income countries, the number of lives saved could have more than doubled if these nations had immunized at least 40% of their population. That makes the recent report both a dramatic demonstration of the protective power of these shots and a grim tally of the consequences of an uneven and inequitable vaccine rollout, writes STAT’s Akila Muthukumar. Read more.

WHO considering whether to call monkeypox a global public health emergency

The World Health Organization’s emergency committee could decide as soon as today whether the current monkeypox outbreak qualifies as a public health emergency of international concern. That call could be accompanied by temporary measures the international community should take to stem the spread of the virus. Monkeypox, typically only found in parts of Africa, has this year been detected in more than 40 countries. Some critics question the timing of the WHO’s meeting, which started Thursday, arguing that the agency is only taking the outbreak seriously now that wealthier, whiter countries have been affected. But others feel that calling the outbreak a global health emergency is central to ensuring a coordinated global response.

Closer look: Why a CVS whistleblower lawsuit comes at a pivotal moment

(SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Last week, STAT’s Ed Silverman brought you an exclusive on how CVS and its subsidiaries allegedly conspired to boost profits at the expense of Medicare Part D beneficiaries, who were denied access to low-cost generics. In a follow-up piece, he explains how this news comes at a key moment for the Federal Trade Commission. That’s because, earlier this month, the agency announced plans to ramp up action against pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy benefits managers that violate antitrust and consumer protection laws. Industry experts say that the CVS whistleblower lawsuit is exactly the kind of case the FTC may focus on. It’s all part of a larger and endlessly complicated story about the opaque pricing system for prescription drugs in the U.S., a maze of companies, suppliers, and intermediaries — each of which blames the others for our costly health care system. Read more.

FDA orders Juul to take its e-cigarettes off the U.S. market

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered e-cigarette company Juul to take its products off the market, but the big surprise was that the agency’s decision wasn’t based on Juul’s marketing to young people. The FDA instead said the move was prompted by concerns that toxic chemicals might be seeping out of Juul’s e-liquid pods, which store nicotine-containing “juice” before it’s heated into vapor.

The move comes just days after the FDA announced early plans to dramatically reduce nicotine levels in traditional cigarettes. But it’s less clear how much impact targeting Juul will have on youth vaping rates, writes STAT’s Nick Florko, given that the company’s popularity among teens has waned. The only guarantee? Juul will almost certainly challenge this decision in court. Read more.

Counting down the end of the latest Ebola outbreak

Here's an update from STAT's infectious disease reporter, Helen Branswell: The countdown has begun for the declaration of the end of the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The most recent case in the outbreak, centered around Mbandaka and Wangata in Equateur Province, was detected on May 19. If the area goes another 10 days without a new case, the outbreak will be declared over. While it seems that spread of the deadly virus may have been stopped, there are still reasons to be cautious, Ibrahima Socé Fall, assistant director-general for emergency response at the World Health Organization, told Helen. Health workers in the region were on strike for weeks, which led to sub-optimal surveillance, Fall said. To date, there have been four confirmed cases and one probable case; all five individuals died.

Scientists just found the largest bacteria known to exist – and it’s not even close

(Oliver Gros / Lawrence Berkeley National Labor)

Most bacteria are so teeny you could easily fit thousands of them in the period at the end of this sentence. Now imagine one the size of a pea. Meet Thiomargarita magnifica, the largest bacteria known to exist and at least 50 times bigger than its closest competitor. Researchers found the microbe on submerged leaves in Caribbean waters. These microbes break all the usual rules – each cell has more than a half million copies of its genome, the bacteria don’t split evenly into identical daughter cells, and oh, and did we mention that they’re really big? Researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Science, still aren’t sure why the bacteria evolved this way. But they suspect it’s not alone, writing that “large and more complex bacteria may be hiding in plain sight.”

What to read around the web today

Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for kids 6 to 17 years faces CDC review, Wall Street Journal
FDA halts study of Sarepta treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy due to safety concern, STAT
CMS approves first-ever public option plan for Colorado's ACA exchange, Fierce Healthcare
Psychosis, addiction, chronic vomiting: as weed becomes more potent, teens are getting sick, The New York Times