Pharma giant Merck enter coronavirus vaccine race with three treatments May 26, 2020 US pharmaceuticals giant Merck has thrown itself into the race to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus disease with the purchase of Austrian vaccine maker Themis. The Themis vaccine, which is being developed in partnership with the Pasteur Institute in Paris, is based on a modified measles vaccine. Doses are already being produced for clinical [...]
Renault to cut 5,000 jobs by 2024 – report May 26, 2020 French automotive giant Renault is set to announce plans to cut up to 5,000 jobs over the next five years in a cost-saving drive, local media reported. The company, which is still in the process of securing a €5bn state loan in order to bolster its coronavirus-stricken finances, is looking to save €2bn in costs. [...]
Warner Music Group resumes $1.8bn IPO after coroanvirus May 26, 2020 Ed Sheeran’s record label Warner Music Group (WMG) is seeking to raise $1.8bn (£1.5bn) as it restarts its initial public offering (IPO) process after it was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, WMG today said it would seek to sell 70m shares – 14 per cent of the company – at a targeted [...]
Michael O’Leary slams ‘illegal’ Lufthansa state bailout May 26, 2020 Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary has this afternoon challenged German carrier Lufthansa’s €9bn state bailout, labelling the rescue package ‘illegal’. In a statement, the low-cost airline’s boss said that the aid would enable Lufthansa to engage in below-cost selling which would “massively distort competition”. He said: “Ryanair will appeal [to the European Commission] against this [...]
Matt Hancock defends Dominic Cummings as lockdown row continues May 26, 2020 Health secretary Matt Hancock this afternoon defended Dominic Cummings despite growing pressure on the government over Boris Johnson’s chief aide’s decision to drive to Durham despite the lockdown measures. Speaking at the government’s daily press conference, Hancock said that Cummings’ actions had been “within the guidelines”, saying that they allowed for exceptional circumstances such as [...]
IATA chief: Don’t politicise quarantine measures May 26, 2020 The chief executive of global aviation body the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned governments not to use quarantine measures for political purposes. Over the Bank Holiday weekend, French authorities announced that all Uk visitors to the country would have to quarantine for 14 days in response to the UK’s decision to apply blanket [...]
UK SMEs see light at the end of the tunnel despite short-term gloom May 26, 2020 The UK’s SMEs are set to see their revenue fall a combined 28 per cent in the second quarter of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with almost three-quarters of businesses expecting the disease to have a significant impact for the next three months. According to new data from Barclaycard’s quarterly SME barometer, sentiment [...]
McLaren to cut 1,200 jobs as coronavirus forces group restructuring May 26, 2020 Supercar giant McLaren today announced it would cut 1,200 jobs across all of its operations due to the combination of the coronavirus pandemic and the new F1 price cap. The redundancies, which were first reported by Sky, will account for about a quarter of the Surrey-based firm’s workforce of 4,000. Jobs will be cut across [...]
Coronavirus: Is this the end for the North Sea oil industry? May 22, 2020 For the last couple of months, the headlines coming out of the North Sea oil fields have made for pretty grim reading. In the past decade or so, the industry, which employs around 150,000 people in the UK, has already been battered by two price implosions, in 2008 and 2013. However, the hit it has [...]
Coronavirus: CMA investigating holiday firms over refund claims May 21, 2020 The UK’s competition watchdog is investigating package holiday firm’s over their failure to refund customers for cancelled holidays. According to its latest statistics, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has received over 60,000 complaints from customers regarding the coronavirus crisis since 10 March. Of these, it said that 27,000 related to complaints about “unfair practices” [...]
