EU approves Astrazeneca vaccine for all over-18s January 29, 2021 The EU drugs regulator has approved the use of the Astrazeneca Covid vaccine for all people over the age of 18. The green light from the European Medicines Agency means Astrazeneca vaccine is the third to be approved by the EU, after those developed by Pfizer/Biontech and Moderna. The move follows an increasingly bitter dispute [...]
Facebook to trial new ad control tools to tackle harmful content January 29, 2021 Facebook is to build and trial new tools that will give brands greater control over what content appears alongside their ads. The social media platform said its new advertiser topic exclusion controls will initially be trialled with a small group of advertisers. The new tools mark efforts by Facebook to reassure advertisers amid concerns their [...]
Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid vaccine 66 per cent effective January 29, 2021 The Covid vaccine being developed by Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, is 66 per cent effective at preventing moderate and severe coronavirus, data published from phase three trials has shown. The jab produced by world’s largest healthcare company is the first single-dose Covid vaccine so far. Britain has pre-ordered 30m doses of the [...]
Watchdog opens competition probe into Uber’s Autocab takeover January 29, 2021 The competition watchdog has opened an investigation into Uber’s planned takeover of taxi tech firm Autocab. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said it had launched a probe and was inviting views on how the deal could impact the private hire vehicle market in the UK. Stockport-based Autocab sells booking and dispatch software to [...]
Screenshot: How Reddit shone a light on the madness of markets January 29, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Das ist Numberwang! **How Redditors beat the market at its own game **Do influencers need a rebrand? Media Moment of the Week: Das ist Numberwang! This week’s media moment is one that journalists the world over would probably rather forget but, being the intrepid media reporter that I [...]
UK tech sector outpaces entire private sector January 29, 2021 The UK’s tech sector expanded at a stronger rate than the entire private sector last quarter and is set to reach a four-and-a-half year high this year. Tech saw another rise in business activity in the fourth quarter, according to IHS Markit and KPMG research, although the pace of expansion slowed amid a wider economic [...]
‘Antibody cocktail’ could cut risk of death from Covid by 70 per cent January 28, 2021 The UK’s medicines regulatory body is reviewing a new “antibody cocktail” that could reduce the risk of death from people most at-risk from coronavirus by 70 per cent. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is carrying out advanced tests of bamlanivimab and etesevimab after trials showed “very encouraging” results. If approved they could [...]
Tech training top of the agenda for UK businesses January 28, 2021 UK businesses are prioritising digital transformation amid the pandemic with tech training coming top of the agenda. The pandemic has seen a rapid uptake in digital adoption as consumers are forced to shop online and businesses are being forced to adapt. An overwhelming majority of large firms have said the pandemic has prompted them to [...]
Exclusive: Friendship app Yubo to expand workforce 10-fold this year, says CEO January 28, 2021 In a year that saw UK schools close their doors and social gatherings move to video platforms, Gen Z ‘friendship’ platform Yubo saw live streams increase by 550 per cent, with streamers spending an average of two hours per day on the app. Since its launch in 2015, the platform that connects people based on shared interests has [...]
Competition watchdog opens probe into Facebook’s Giphy takeover January 28, 2021 The UK competition watchdog has launched a formal investigation into Facebook’s takeover of popular gif search engine Giphy. Facebook last year announced it planned to merge the gif-maker with Instagram in a deal worth a reported $400m (£321m). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) served an initial enforcement order in June, forcing the social media [...]