Philip Morris gets over a fifth of Vectura shares in takeover tender offer
Cigarette maker Philip Morris International (PMI) (PM.N) said on Wednesday shareholders holding 22.61% of Vectura (VEC.L) shares had tendered their stock to the tobacco group as part of its deal to buy the asthma drug maker for 1.1 billion pounds ($1.51 billion).
Virus variants threaten global recovery, G20 warns
An upsurge in new coronavirus variants and poor access to vaccines in developing countries threaten the global economic recovery, finance ministers of the world’s 20 largest economies warned on Saturday.
U.S. to donate 500 million Pfizer doses to poor nations
The United States will spend $3.5 billion to buy and donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer (PFE.N) coronavirus vaccine to some of the world’s poorest countries, it said on Thursday, urging other G7 nations to follow suit.
Is it all Greek to you? Coronavirus variants get new names
Coronavirus variants with clunky, alphanumeric names have now been assigned the letters of the Greek alphabet to simplify discussion and pronunciation while avoiding stigma.
G20 health summit looks to boost vaccine access, drugmakers to offer cut-price shots
Leaders of the world’s largest economies kicked off a global health summit on Friday, where drugmakers were expected to promise cut-price supplies of vaccines for poorer nations to help end the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vaccine patent waiver will not be enough -WTO chief
Waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines will not be enough to narrow the huge supply gap between rich and poor countries, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Thursday.
EXCLUSIVE G20 snubs COVID patent waiver, waters down pledge on WHO’s funding -draft
Leaders of the world’s largest economies back “voluntary licensing” of COVID-19 vaccine patents, the draft conclusions of a summit show, watering down a U.S. push for waivers and earlier commitments to supply more funds to the World Health Organization.
Top scientists question the need for COVID-19 booster shots
COVID-19 vaccine developers are making ever bolder assertions that the world will need yearly booster shots, or new vaccines to tackle concerning coronavirus variants, but some scientists question when, or whether, such shots will be needed. In interviews with Reuters, more than a dozen influential infectious disease and vaccine development experts said there is growing […]
More than 4,000 Indians die of COVID-19 for second straight day
India recorded more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths for a second straight day on Thursday, while infections stayed below 400,000 for a fourth day, although the virus has become rampant in rural areas where cases can go unreported due to a lack of testing. Experts remain unsure when numbers will peak and concern is growing about […]
India’s daily coronavirus cases climb to new world record as hospitals buckle
India’s coronavirus infections rose by 346,786 overnight, the health ministry said on Saturday, setting a new world record for the third consecutive day, as overwhelmed hospitals in the densely-populated country begged for oxygen supplies. India is in the grip of a rampaging second wave of the pandemic, hitting a rate of one COVID-19 death in […]
