Category: 3. Business

China has banned exports of Nexperia’s finished products, which are widely used in car parts, in response to the Netherlands seizing control of the company.

German car parts supplier Bosch is preparing to furlough staff at its Salzgitter plant if a trade dispute between China and the Netherlands over Dutch chipmaker Nexperia is not resolved soon, amid mounting concerns in Europe’s beleaguered car industry.

Bosch and other suppliers are scrambling for alternatives after China banned exports of Nexperia’s finished products in response to the Netherlands seizing control of the company, whose Chinese owner Wingtech has been flagged by the United States as a possible national security risk.

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Because Nexperia’s chips are widely used in car parts, the standoff risks adding to problems for Europe’s carmaking sector on top of US tariffs and Chinese curbs on rare-earths exports.

“We are currently doing everything we can to serve our customers and avoid or minimise production restrictions,” a Bosch spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Reuters news agency.

“We have not yet made any adjustments to working hours at our German locations, but are preparing to do so, particularly in Salzgitter,” she said, adding that potential furlough measures were being prepared at the plant.

Salzgitter is Bosch’s lead plant for motor control units for combustion and electric vehicles, and employs about 1,400 staff.

Earlier on Friday, Volkswagen said it had secured production in Germany for the coming work week across the group, which includes the core VW brand and luxury subsidiary Porsche.

“In view of the dynamic situation, however, short-term impacts on the production network of the Volkswagen Group cannot generally be ruled out,” a spokesperson said.

Worsening situation

BMW and Mercedes have also warned that their supplier networks are affected.

A regional representative of Germany’s IG Metall union warned on Friday of a worsening situation.

Some automotive suppliers are already seeing “severe difficulties” and have started to announce furlough schemes for workers, Horst Ott, IG Metall district manager in the southern state of Bavaria, said at an industry event in Munich.

He did not mention any companies by name.

Bosch said it was drawing on alternative suppliers and optimising inventories in its global production network in a bid to prevent production stoppages.

Most Nexperia chips are manufactured in Europe, but packaged in China.

Industry sources say switching suppliers is possible, with Infineon, NXP and Texas Instruments possible alternatives, but this takes time due to approval processes.

Auto industry bodies have called for a political solution.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof discussed the situation with other European leaders during an EU summit in Brussels this week.

The FDA has granted breakthrough therapy designation to zenocutuzumab-zbco (Bizengri) for the treatment of adults with advanced unresectable or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma harboring a NRG1 gene fusion.¹

The designation was based on findings from the phase 2 eNRGy trial (NCT02912949), updated results from which were presented at the 2025 AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets. The data will also serve as the basis for the 2026 filing of the agent’s supplemental biologics license application to the FDA.

“NRG1 fusions represent a rare but actionable driver in cholangiocarcinoma, and the data from the eNRGy trial continue to highlight the potential of zenocutuzumab to offer meaningful clinical benefit for these patients. I’m honored to present these findings at AACR-NCI-EORTC, where we can advance the dialogue around targeted therapies in hard-to-treat cancers,” Alison M. Schram, MD, principal investigator of the eNRGy trial and associate attending physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, New York, stated in a news release.

What was the design of the ongoing eNRGy trial?

The global, multicenter phase 1/2 eNRGy trial was designed to evaluate zenocutuzumab in patients with advanced NRG1-positive solid tumors, including cholangiocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).² To be eligible, patients had to be at least 18 years of age and have received a diagnosis of an advanced or metastatic solid tumor with a NRG1 gene fusion. Patients also had to be previously treated or unable to receive standard therapy and have an ECOG performance status between 0 and 2.

All patients received 750 mg of zenocutuzumab intravenously over a 2-hour infusion every 2 weeks until progressive disease or unacceptable toxicity. Tumor assessment was performed every 8 weeks. The first infusion of zenocutuzumab was administered over 4 hours and accompanied by premedication with antipyretics, antihistamines, and glucocorticoids to minimize the incidence of infusion-related reactions (IRR).

What data were presented at the 2025 AACR-NCI-EORTC meeting?

The cholangiocarcinoma cohort served as the focus of the AACR-NCI-EORTC presentation. A total of 22 patients were enrolled in the safety analysis cohort, 3 of whom were excluded from the primary efficacy cohort (n = 19) due to prior HER3-directed exposure and the presence of another oncogenic driver (n = 1).

The primary end point was investigator-assessed objective response rate (ORR) per RECIST 1.1. Secondary end points included duration of response (DOR), clinical benefit rate (CBR), and progression-free survival (PFS) per investigator assessment, as well as DOR, ORR, and PFS per blinded independent central review, and safety.

The median age was 57.5 years (range, 23-82), and most patients were women (55%). ECOG performance status was predominantly 0 (63%), and anatomic location was largely intrahepatic (82%). Most patients also had stage IV disease at screening (95%) and had discontinued treatment (82%) because of progressive disease (68%).

With respect to treatment history, 89% of patients received prior systemic therapy, which included chemotherapy (84%), immunotherapy (16%), anti-VEGF therapy (5%), and transarterial chemoembolization (5%). The median number of prior treatment lines was 1 (range, 0-4): 0 (11%), 1 (47%), 2 (26%), 3 (5%), and 4 (11%). The time since metastatic diagnosis was 9.3 months (range, 1.6-34.2).

The results indicated that the investigator-assessed ORR was 37% (95% CI, 16%-62%) and the CBR, defined as partial or complete response or stable disease for at least 24 weeks, was 58% (95% CI, 33%-80%). The median duration of treatment was 9.2 months (range, 1.0-31.0) and the median time to response was 1.9 months (range, 1.2-5.5). The median DOR was 7.4 months (range, 3.6-11.1).

The median PFS was 9.2 months (95% CI, 3.9-11.4); the estimated 6- and 12-month PFS rates were 64.7% (95% CI, 37.7%-82.3%) and 21.8% (95% CI, 5.5%-45.0%), respectively. At a median follow-up of 15.2 months (range, 1.2-34.1), the median overall survival (OS) was not evaluable ([NE] 95% CI, 16.1-NE); the estimated 12- and 18-month OS rates were 80.5% (95% CI, 50.6%-93.3%) and 67.1% (95% CI, 30.5%-87.5%), respectively.

“Patients with cholangiocarcinoma face an aggressive disease with limited standard therapy options,” Juan W. Valle, MBChB, MSc, FRCP, chief medical officer of the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, added in the news release.¹ “The eNRGy trial results are encouraging, and they underscore how critical comprehensive molecular testing, notably tissue-based RNA next-generation sequencing [NGS], is to ensure that patients with rare drivers such as NRG1 fusions are identified and can potentially have access to targeted treatments.”

Among patients with evaluable CA 19-9 data (n = 16), all experienced a decline in serum levels, including a 50% or greater reduction in 68.8% (n = 11) of patients.² The median time to first 50% or greater reduction was 1.0 month. Among patients with evaluable CEA data (n = 11), 63.6% (n = 7) experienced a 50% or greater reduction, with a median time of 1.0 month for the first 50% or greater reduction.

The safety profile was consistent with that of the overall eNRGy trial population. Most treatment-emergent adverse effects (TEAEs) were grade 1 or 2: anemia (all grade, 45%; grade 3/4, 14%), diarrhea (all grade, 41%; grade 3/4, 0%), hypomagnesemia (all grade, 27%; grade 3/4, 9%), abdominal pain (all grade, 27%; grade 3/4, 5%), cough (all grade, 27%; grade 3/4, 0%), fatigue (all grade, 27%; grade 3/4, 0%), nausea (all grade, 27%; grade 3/4, 0%), alanine aminotransferase increase (all grade, 23%; grade 3/4, 5%), and gamma-glutamyltransferase increase (all grade, 9%; grade 3/4, 9%).

Five patients (23%) experienced serious adverse effects, none of which were treatment related. No patients discontinued therapy because of treatment-related toxicity, nor did grade 5 TEAEs occur. One patient experienced grade 3 or greater treatment-related anemia, and two cases (9%) of grade 1/2 IRR occurred.

“In December 2024, zenocutuzumab received accelerated approval³ for the treatment of adults with advanced unresectable or metastatic NSCLC and pancreatic adenocarcinoma harboring a NRG1 gene fusion with disease progression on or after prior systemic therapy.¹ The new data from the eNRGy trial highlight the potential of zenocutuzumab-zbco as a promising treatment option for patients with NRG1 fusion–positive cholangiocarcinoma,” Pritesh J. Gandhi, PharmD, chief development officer of Partner Therapeutics.

“With the growing number of genomic alterations and gene fusions that are now actionable, it is imperative that oncologists order upfront tissue-based RNA NGS to ensure that gene fusions, of which NRG1 is just one, are not missed,” Gandhi concluded.

References

1. Zenocutuzumab-zbco granted FDA breakthrough therapy designation for NRG1+ cholangiocarcinoma; data highlighting potential of zenocutuzumab-zbco in NRG1+ cholangiocarcinoma to be presented at AACR-NCI-EORTC. News release. Partner Therapeutics, Inc. October 23, 2025. Accessed October 24, 2025. https://www.partnertx.com/zenocutuzumab-zbco-granted-fda-breakthrough-therapy-designation-for-nrg1-cholangiocarcinoma-data-highlighting-potential-of-zenocutuzumab-zbco-in-nrg1-cholangiocarcinoma-to-be-presented-at-aacr-nci/
2. Schram AM, Cleary JM, Arnold D, et al. Zenocutuzumab efficacy and safety in advanced NRG1+ cholangiocarcinoma: analysis from the phase 2 eNRGy trial. Presented at: AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; October 22-26, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts. Abstract A102.
3. FDA grants accelerated approval to zenocutuzumab-zbco for non-small cell lung cancer and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. FDA. December 4, 2024. Accessed October 24, 2025. https://www.fda.gov/drugs/resources-information-approved-drugs/fda-grants-accelerated-approval-zenocutuzumab-zbco-non-small-cell-lung-cancer-and-pancreatic

• Automotive net cash flow rose to 1.34 billion euros, underlining Porsche’s robust performance even under challenging conditions.
• Record deliveries in the USA and in the Overseas and Emerging Markets. North America region up five per cent. High proportion of electrified vehicles – increased to 35 per cent globally, 56 per cent in Europe
• As expected, strategic realignment and macroeconomic challenges have had a significant impact on earnings for the first nine months of the year.
• Extraordinary expenses of around 2.7 billion euros, including for flexibilisation of the product portfolio and battery activities.
• Group sales revenue in the first nine months of the year totalled 26.86 billion euros, while group operating profit amounted to 40 million euros.
• The company is consciously accepting temporarily weaker key figures in order to strengthen profitability and resilience in the long term.
• CFO Dr Jochen Breckner: “We have further sharpened our strategic alignment. Now we are resolutely implementing clear decisions. We expect 2025 to be the trough that precedes a noticeable improvement for Porsche from 2026 onwards.”

 

Despite a globally challenging environment, group revenue and deliveries remained largely stable in the first nine months of the year: revenue amounted to 26.86 billion euros, and 212,059 vehicles were delivered to customers worldwide. This equates to a moderate decline of 6.0 per cent in each case.

Group operating profit fell to 40 million euros in the first nine months of 2025 (previous year: 4,035 million euros). The group operating return on sales fell to 0.2 per cent (previous year: 14.1 per cent). The reasons for this are the extraordinary expenses associated with the realignment of the product strategy; the challenging market conditions in China, especially in the luxury segment; the ‘one-off’ effects relating to battery activities; and organisational changes. In addition, increased expenses from the US import tariffs also had an impact. In contrast, automotive net cash flow increased to 1.34 billion euros at the end of the third quarter of 2025 (previous year: 1.24 billion euros). The automotive net cash flow margin rose to 5.6 per cent (previous year: 4.8 per cent). This demonstrates the resilience of the business operations and shows that Porsche is performing robustly even under challenging conditions.

“In a challenging market environment, we have generated robust cash flow. At the same time, we have further sharpened our strategic alignment. Now we are resolutely implementing clear decisions,” emphasises Dr Jochen Breckner, Member of the Executive Board for Finance and IT at Porsche AG. “This year’s results reflect the impact of our strategic realignment. However, these measures are essential. We are consciously accepting temporarily weaker financial figures in order to strengthen Porsche’s resilience and profitability in the long term.”

As part of the realignment of its product strategy, Porsche plans to supplement its product range with additional models featuring combustion and plug-in-hybrid powertrains. In return, due to the delayed ramp-up of electric mobility, the market launch of certain all-electric vehicle models is planned to take place at a later date. In particular, the development of the planned new platform for electric vehicles in the 2030s is to be rescheduled. The platform is to be technologically redesigned in coordination with other brands within the Volkswagen Group. Nevertheless, the existing all-electric model range is being continuously updated.

“We are gearing Porsche towards strong, long-term profitability,” explains Breckner. “We expect 2025 to be the trough that precedes a noticeable improvement for Porsche from 2026 onwards. Our goal is to sharpen our brand and make our products even more individual, exclusive and desirable. In doing so, we are building on a strong foundation: a loyal customer base, a renewed and attractive product portfolio, and one of the most iconic brands in the world.”

In the first nine months of the year, Porsche delivered 212,509 vehicles to customers worldwide. The proportion of electrified vehicles increased significantly to 35.2 per cent compared to the same period last year. Of all vehicles delivered, 23.1 per cent were fully electric and 12.1 per cent were plug-in hybrids. In Europe, the proportion of electrified vehicles even reached 56 per cent. The strongest growth among the six model lines was recorded by the Macan with 64,783 examples delivered (an increase of 18 per cent). New all-time highs were achieved in the USA and in the Overseas and Emerging Markets. An increase of five per cent was recorded in the North America region.

Talks on the Future Package with employee representatives

Porsche resolutely prioritises its investments and focuses on value-adding core areas. At the same time, the company is pushing ahead with its strategic performance programme ‘Push to Pass’. The sports car manufacturer intends to increase its efficiency and revenue in order to secure its long-term profitability in a persistently inflationary cost environment. In October, Porsche initiated talks between management and employee representatives on a Future Package, as announced. “We have to assume that the general market conditions will not improve in the foreseeable future. That is why we need to discuss large-scale solutions in all areas – including in the context of the Future Package,” emphasises Breckner. The company will provide information on the results of the confidential discussions as soon as they have been concluded.

Forecast for 2025 takes into account US tariffs amounting to 15% from 1 August

In the first nine months of 2025, extraordinary expenses for the company’s realignment amounted to around 2.7 billion euros. In addition, the impact of US import tariffs resulted in increased costs within the mid three-digit million range. In total, Porsche AG expects costs of around 3.1 billion euros for the 2025 financial year in connection with the strategic realignment. Following the EU Commission’s agreement with the US government on import tariffs, the forecast for the 2025 financial year takes into account the US import tariff of 15 per cent applicable from 1 August. The company continues to expect group sales revenue in the region of 37 to 38 billion euros. At the lower end of the range, Porsche would expect a slightly positive group return on sales and an automotive net cash flow margin of 3 per cent. At the upper end of the range, a group return on sales of 2 per cent and an automotive net cash flow margin of 5 per cent would be expected. For the forecast of net cash flow margin, Porsche expects outflows of around 1.2 billion euros for the full year relating to the strategic realignment and the US tariffs.

Porsche AG Group	Q1-Q3 2025	Q1-Q3 2024	Change
Sales revenue	€26.86 billion	€28.56 Mrd. €	-6.0%
Operating profit	€40 million	€4,035 million	-99.0%
Operating return on sales	0.2%	14.1%
Deliveries to customers	212,509	226,026	-6.0%

 

Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information that reflect Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG’s current views about future events. These statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. They are based on assumptions relating to the development of the economic, political, and legal environment in individual countries, economic regions, and markets, and in particular for the automotive industry, which we have made on the basis of the information available to us and which we consider to be realistic at the time of publication. If any of these risks and uncertainties materializes or if the assumptions underlying any of the forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, the actual results may be materially different from those Porsche AG expresses or implies by such statements. Forward-looking statements in this presentation are based solely on the circumstances at the date of publication. We do not update forward-looking statements retrospectively. Such statements are valid on the date of publication and can be superseded. This information does not constitute an offer to exchange or sell or an offer to exchange or buy any securities. 

A factory in Northampton manufacturing counterfeit weight-loss jabs has been raided and dismantled by a government agency.

Tens of thousands of empty weight-loss pens ready to be filled, raw chemical ingredients, and more than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide and tirzepatide pens were seized in the raid, conducted by officers from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), supported by Northamptonshire police.

Retatrutide, which is unlicensed in the UK, is an experimental injection developed by the US drugmaker Eli Lilly. Tirzepatide, more commonly known under its brand name Mounjaro, is available on the the NHS for weight loss for patients who fulfil a certain criteria of comorbidities.

The site, on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Northampton, is believed to have been used for the large-scale manufacture, packaging, and distribution of unlicensed – and potentially deadly – weightloss products to customers.

The street value of the finished weight-loss products found in the factory is estimated to be worth more than £250,000. The search operation lasted two days, with the MHRA saying it was the latest in its ongoing work to tackle the illegal trade in weight-loss medicines.

Wes Streeting, the secretary of state for health and social care, said the raid was a “victory in the fight against the shameless criminals who are putting lives at risk by peddling dangerous and illegal weight-loss jabs to make a quick buck”.

He added: “These unregulated products, made with no regard for safety or quality, posed a major risk to unwitting customers.

“My message is clear: don’t buy weight-loss medications from unregulated sources. Talk to your GP, seek NHS advice, and don’t line the pockets of criminals who don’t care about your health. Safe, appropriate, licensed obesity drugs can greatly benefit those in need if taken under medical supervision, and I urge people to only purchase and use them with the approval and oversight of medics and pharmacists.”

The raid comes after the MHRA has previously cautioned against buying illegal weight-loss medicines without a prescription through beauty salons, fake pharmacy websites or on social media, saying these products could contain “toxins and other ingredients that could cause real harm”.

Andy Morling, the head of the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, said: “This seizure shows the lengths these criminals will go to for profit. People should be extremely cautious when buying medicines online. Prescription medicines should only be obtained from a registered pharmacy against a prescription issued by a healthcare professional.

“Taking prescription medicines sourced in any other way carries serious risks to your health – there are no guarantees about what they contain, and some may even be contaminated with toxic substances.

“This is an illicit global market that endangers patients, puts big money in the pockets of organised criminals, and undermines legitimate healthcare. This operation demonstrates, once again, that my officers will stop at nothing to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the organised criminal networks who put profit before safety.”

In this investigation into vehicle traffic volumes and firearm injury risk, we found that there was a statistically significant relationship between higher vehicle traffic and higher injury counts across the City of Portland; tracts with 10,000 higher vehicle trips exhibited a 27%−29% higher risk of firearm injury occurrence. We also found 1 standard deviation higher traffic volumes to be associated with 59%−85% higher odds of a firearm injury in injury months compared to control periods at the same type and time of day in adjacent months. These spatial and temporal associations, which we identified at the tract-level, were not correspondingly demonstrated when we zoomed in on individual street segments in a single neighborhood of East Portland, finding imprecise associations in the hypothesized direction but of smaller magnitude or insignificant.

Our findings suggest that vehicle traffic volume could play an important role in community firearm violence. To our knowledge, ours is the first study to test this association. However, the finding is consistent with several theoretically plausible mechanisms by which a decrease in vehicular traffic leads to a decrease in community firearm violence. High vehicle traffic discourages foot traffic [23], and instead creates opportunities for people to cross paths (motivated offenders and suitable targets of the Routine Activities Theory), but not to build social bonds or allow nearby residents to monitor who comes and goes or exercise informal social control (lack of a credible guardian). Heavy vehicle traffic may itself be an sign of physical disinvestment, as high-density traffic areas have been shown to disproportionately affect disadvantaged areas in Southern California [44]. In fact, many highway construction projects in the midcentury intentionally bisected or segregated minority neighborhoods serving as a physical, social, and oftentimes economic barrier between adjacent communities [45]. Such neighborhoods that have experienced racialized disinvestment like “white flight,” often have, for example, a lack of sidewalks, and are “driven through” rather than “driven to.” These areas lack the pedestrian-friendly infrastructure to help foster the safety of safe and walkable “busy streets.” East Portland is an example of such an area [30].

Vehicle traffic is also inherently linked to other forms of social and economic disinvestment which help drive disparities in firearm injury risk by race and income. In East Portland, such disinvestment has led to an under-resourced and highly segregated urban environment dominated by vehicle traffic. Following recent gentrification of North and Northeast Portland, which saw a decrease in the percentage of Black residents over time, the population of East Portland grew substantially and saw an increase in Black residents over the same period. With this displacement, members of previously spatially separated gangs have now found themselves living interspersed thus increasing contact and exacerbating existing feuds. Racialized segregation and disinvestment are often compounded by a lack of inclusionary zoning laws, which benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities. Oregon overturned its ban on inclusionary zoning in 2016 [46], the last state besides Texas to do so, though Portland’s inclusionary zoning mandate has only recently been gaining traction [47]. Future investment in inclusionary zoning may help address some issues of concentrated disinvestment, but the historic legacy of exclusionary built environment practices have exacerbated existing challenges in interrupting community violence.

Place-based violence prevention initiatives have been found to be effective and affordable interventions to reduce gun violence in East Coast cities but may not be as effective in post-industrial cities with fewer vacant or neglected urban plots. For example, previous analyses have found larger associations between place-based interventions and crime reductions, including violent crime, in East Coast cities compared to results found from New Orleans, a city with a distinctly different built and natural environment [48]. In an urban environment such as Portland, OR where there are few vacant lots, and particularly East Portland where the average age of buildings is much newer than the originally developed city center, focusing on how people move through the physical space may be a more promising approach to reducing firearm injuries. Traffic control interventions that reduce trips on non-arterial roads through diversion or local road closure, as well as traffic calming mechanisms such as speed bumps, sidewalk bulbs (curb outs), and road diets that promote other forms of active transport are all worthwhile interventions to explore. All of these interventions are meant to direct non-resident drivers to arterials intended for drive-through traffic, or to slow or impede drivers in residential areas to reduce heedlessness and promote the safety of nearby pedestrians and residents.

There may be several reasons as to why this relationship between vehicle traffic and firearm injuries was shown at the tract-level but not significantly along individual street segments. The first may be that the street segment analysis was underpowered due to small numbers – in fact, many of the analyses showed attenuated results that were positive but imprecise and not statistically significant. However, it may also be an early indication that the potential pathway through which vehicular traffic may increase risk of a firearm shooting is most relevant at the neighborhood context as opposed to on each individual street. For example, in areas with high vehicle volume streets – areas where many people including likely non-residents are driving through as opposed to driving to – the elevated vehicle traffic may create environments that result in higher firearm injury risk not on the major roadways themselves but rather on adjacent streets within the network (i.e. proximity to a higher trafficked roadway as opposed to location on a higher trafficked roadway leads to higher risk for nearby residents). The feeling of anonymity this creates could translate to a lack of guardianship, and lack of social control. It is also possible that areas built for cars rather than people share other risk factors that contribute to firearm injury risk separate from traffic. Future research should consider the appropriate geographical context for intervening on traffic-related firearm injury risk and begin to tease apart the causal mechanisms through which traffic may be contributing to firearm injury risk.

Limitations

Our traffic exposure was a modeled estimate as opposed to real vehicle counts. However, actual traffic counts are difficult and labor-intensive to collect; often traditional traffic count data come from traffic counters set up on certain major roads only on specific days. Additionally, traffic counts are typically collected during morning commutes, when violence incidence is lowest, limiting our ability to investigate any association between traffic and firearm shootings. The type of fine temporal and spatial traffic estimates necessary to address our research question do not exist. Thus, our use of the street-level modeled traffic data made it possible to investigate associations between vehicle traffic and community firearm violence, which would not have been possible at this scale using traditional data. However, modeled data often smooths true outliers as models are most capable to modeling averages. As such, we were unable to measure fine scale changes over time.

Secondly, our study bisected the COVID-19 pandemic period – a time defined by dramatic and swift mobility changes as well as increases in firearm injuries both in Portland, OR and in many other communities across the United States [49]. While understanding how risky relationships were altered during this period is an enormous and complex challenge, it was within this same period that local residents in East Portland raised their concern about increases in vehicle traffic and firearm violence in their communities. This community-academic partnership arose as a result of that community input, and thus the theory behind our research question was grounded in community concerns. Additionally, results of a sensitivity analysis stratifying the tract-level cross-sectional analysis by the pre-Covid and Covid periods did not show heterogeneous estimates (results available upon request).

Lastly, this work was intended to address a novel research question with a broad and multi-faceted analysis approach. Our intent was to first gain insight into whether there was a relationship between vehicle traffic and firearm injury and provide some groundwork for hypothesis generating results. These are not causal estimates. It is important to highlight the possibility of reverse causation here, where a firearm injury could potentially lead to greater vehicle traffic if the incident caused nearby residents to feel uncomfortable walking, or less traffic if drivers chose to avoid an area they deemed risky. We attempted to assess the temporality of the association in the case-crossover models stratified into the pre and post comparison months, but we were not able to explore the specific mechanistic pathways through which vehicle traffic may be impacting firearm injury risk using these monthly data. Additionally, we did not have data specifically on road rage incidents and thus were unable to examine differences in roadway vs. nearby community firearm assaults. This intelligence will be crucial to understanding how to intervene going forward. Future research should explore potential effect modification in vehicle traffic risk by other potential risk or protective factors such as neighborhood SES, urban zoning, or pedestrian safety infrastructure in order to start teasing apart mechanistic pathways that can be leveraged for intervention.

Implications

Innovative strategies to curb firearm violence are necessary today more than ever with changes being seen in firearm assault etiology, such as spatial deconcentrating of injury occurrences [50], and the influence of social media altering how social networks interact in physical and digital space. Within the far-reaching landscape of firearm injury mortality and morbidity, this study suggests that traffic restriction or modification may be one avenue to reduce community firearm violence, and as such, warrants further study.