The R&D World Index (RDWI) was up 2.91% with Cisco leading at 8.78%, in spite of its lay-off announcement. In the week ending August 16, the index closed at 3878.49 for the 25 companies in the RDWI.
The Index was up 2.91% (or 109.53 basis points). Twenty-one RDWI members gained value last week from 0.95% (Roche Holdings AG) to 8.78% (Cisco). Four RDWI members lost value last week from -0.39% (Alphabet/Google) to -0.88% (Pfizer).
Eli Lilly & Co. opens innovation center in Boston
Lilly Seaport Innovation Center (LSC) (photo courtesy of Eli Lilly & Co.)
RDW Index member Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis, announced last week that it had opened the Lilly Seaport Innovation Center (LSC) in Boston’s seaport district. This R&D hub is set to advance the company’s work on RNA and DNA-based therapies and discover new drug targets for diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular issues. The 346,000-ft2 twelve-story building is built to accommodate 500 researchers and scientists. The LSC’s opening coincides with the expansion of Lilly’s partnership with AbCellera Biologics, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, focusing on therapeutic antibody discovery in immunology, cardiovascular disease, and neuroscience. This partnership began in March 2020 and aims to identify antibodies for up to nine therapeutic targets. In July, Lilly signed a definitive agreement to acquire Morphic Holding, Waltham, Massachusetts, for $3.2 billion to expand the company’s inflammatory bowel disease portfolio. With this deal, Lilly inherits Morphic’s lead asset, MORF-057, which is under investigation in two Phase II studies for ulcerative colitis and another study for Crohn’s disease.
Genentech closes cancer immunology research department
Genentech, South San Francisco, announced last week that it will close its cancer immunology research department in conjunction with the departure of its unit head, Ira Mellman. The company’s cancer immunology research function will now be merged with its molecular oncology research to form a single cancer research body within Genentech Research and Early Development. Along with this reorganization, the discovery functions within Genentech’s department of human pathobiology and OMNI reverse translation group will also move to the departments of immunology and neuroscience in research biology. These moves follow the company’s clinical work in cancer immunotherapy, which has struggled to yield satisfactory results.
Nvidia moves to liquid cooling instead of air
Nvidia, Santa Clara, California, is taking a clue from supercomputer developers and moving to liquid cooling its new GB200 Blackwell systems. Current Blackwell systems will be cooled with liquid circulating in tubes on the hardware rather than by air. The company is also looking to develop systems immersed in liquid to increase the cooling capacity. According to Goldman Sachs research in New York City, AI systems will demand up to 8% of the total power supply by 2030. Cooling in current data centers accounts for up to 40% of the power consumption, which could be reduced to 10% or less with more advanced cooling technologies, according to researchers at the University of California at Riverside.
Huawei close to producing AI chip, comparable to Nvidia’s H100
Huawei Technologies, Shenzhen, China, was revealed by analysts last week to be close to introducing a new chip for AI use. The Ascend 910C device is said to be comparable to Nvidia’s H100, which was introduced in 2023 but is not directly available in China due to trade restrictions. China’s TikTok parent ByteDance, search engine giant Baidu, and state-owned telecom carrier China Mobile are all in early discussions with Huawei about obtaining the 910C, indicating orders are likely to surpass 70,000 chips with a total value of $2 billion. Huawei is targeting its first shipments as soon as October 2024. Chinese customers can legally obtain Nvidia’s lower-performance H20 chips, although some receive higher-performance devices through other sources. Nvidia is expected to sell more than one million H20 chips in China this year.
Cisco is eliminating 7% of global workforce
Last week, RDW Index member Cisco Systems, San Jose, California, announced a restructuring plan involving eliminating 7% of its global workforce (about 5,900 jobs) to cut costs and allow it to invest in growth areas. As of July 29, 2023, Cisco reported having 84,900 global employees. These cuts will cost Cisco about $1 billion in severance and other costs. The company’s revenue fell in its fiscal fourth quarter by about 10%, which was ahead of analysts’ expectations.
Aramco and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology enter $100M agreement funding R&D
Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, announced last week that it had entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to fund $100 million in an R&D project. The funding will focus on several project areas: energy transition, sustainability, materials innovation, upstream technologies, and digital solutions. A strong emphasis will be placed on achieving commercially viable results. Additionally, future projects are expected to explore advanced carbon materials and geothermal energy. Within the energy transition field, key research areas of focus include liquid-to-chemical conversion, future refinery research, and the development of low-carbon aviation fuels.
Natron Energy to build battery plant in North Carolina
Natron Energy makes sodium-ion battery products based on a patented Prussian blue electrode chemistry. (Photo: Business Wire)
Natron Energy, Santa Clara, California, announced plans last week to build a 1.2 million ft2 battery plant in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. The $1.4 billion plant will use sodium ion technology to create a production capacity of 24 GW. The company opened its first commercial-scale plant earlier this year in Holland, Michigan, with a 600-MW capacity, which serves as a blueprint for its larger future facilities. Natron expects to supply batteries for data centers, microgrids, electric vehicle charging systems, and other uses. These batteries do not require the same expensive minerals such as lithium, copper, nickel, and cobalt as do lithium-ion batteries. The sodium ion batteries also outperform others in power density and recharging speed.
| Company | Ticker | Exchange | 2020 R&D billions$ | 08/09/24 | 08/16/24 | 8/9/24 to 8/16/24 | 1/1/22 to 8/16/24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet/Google | GOOGL | NASDAQ | 27.303 | 165.39 | 164.74 | -0.39% | 13.73% |
| Microsoft | MSFT | NASDAQ | 17.198 | 406.02 | 418.47 | 3.07% | 24.43% |
| Volkswagen AG | VWAGY | OTC | 17.259 | 10.21 | 10.46 | 2.45% | -64.18% |
| Apple | AAPL | NASDAQ | 18.667 | 216.24 | 226.05 | 4.54% | 27.30% |
| Facebook/Meta | META | NASDAQ | 13.874 | 517.77 | 527.42 | 1.86% | 56.81% |
| Intel | INTC | NASDAQ | 14.503 | 19.71 | 20.87 | 5.89% | -59.48% |
| Johnson & Johnson | JNJ | NYSE | 13.750 | 160.62 | 159.39 | -0.77% | -6.83% |
| Roche Holdings AG | RHHBY | OTC | 14.143 | 40.18 | 40.56 | 0.95% | -21.53% |
| Merck & Co. | MRK | NYSE | 11.381 | 114.55 | 113.67 | -0.77% | 48.32% |
| Novartis | NVS | NYSE | 9.387 | 111.89 | 114.70 | 2.51% | 31.13% |
| Toyota | TM | NYSE | 10.724 | 168.59 | 182.67 | 8.35% | 1.42% |
| Pfizer | PFE | NYSE | 8.336 | 28.55 | 28.30 | -0.88% | -52.97% |
| Alibaba | BABA | NYSE | 6.006 | 79.99 | 83.18 | 3.99% | -29.98% |
| GM | GM | NYSE | 6.727 | 43.48 | 45.32 | 4.23% | -22.70% |
| Honda | HMC | NYSE | 8.806 | 29.49 | 31.72 | 7.56% | 11.49% |
| Ford | F | NYSE | 9.340 | 10.10 | 10.51 | 4.06% | -49.40% |
| AbbVie | ABBV | NYSE | 13.949 | 189.93 | 193.90 | 2.09% | 43.21% |
| Sanofi SA | SNY | NYSE | 7.750 | 52.37 | 54.07 | 3.25% | 7.92% |
| Cisco | CSCO | NASDAQ | 6.331 | 45.47 | 49.46 | 8.78% | -21.95% |
| Bristol-Myers Squibb | BMY | NYSE | 7.130 | 46.72 | 49.36 | 5.65% | -20.83% |
| Astra Zeneca PLC | AZN | NYSE | 6.056 | 81.19 | 84.41 | 3.97% | 44.91% |
| IBM | IBM | NYSE | 5.368 | 191.45 | 193.78 | 1.22% | 44.98% |
| Oracle | ORCL | NYSE | 6.928 | 132.06 | 137.47 | 4.10% | 57.63% |
| Eli Lilly & Co. | LLY | NYSE | 8.606 | 891.68 | 922.12 | 3.41% | 233.84% |
| Stellantis NV | STLA | NYSE | 5.309 | 15.31 | 15.89 | 3.79% | -18.68% |
