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Canada clinches more COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna in new agreement – Global News

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The federal government has reached an agreement with Moderna for additional supply of COVID-19 vaccines until 2024.

The agreement secures Canada’s access to 40 million doses of the mRNA vaccine, with the option to purchase an additional 65 million shots.

“We’ve reached an agreement with Moderna for additional supply of its COVID-19 vaccine for 2022 and 2023, with an option to extend into 2024,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted Saturday.

The announcement comes several days after the Massachusetts-based drug maker confirmed it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government to build an mRNA vaccine manufacturing plant in Canada.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said Tuesday that the agreement will give Canada access to Moderna’s mRNA “development engine” and allow the country priority access to the doses. He said Canada can also ask Moderna to shift its production lines to respond to a new or emerging threat.

“Whether it’s a small outbreak, or a big pandemic, like the one we just saw — God forbid — Canada will be ready,” Bancel told reporters.

“We’ll be ready on Canadian soil to make, in a matter of months, a new vaccine for a new emerging virus to protect the Canadian population.”

Read more:
Do Canadians need booster vaccines? Experts echo WHO’s call for pause

The announcement was also made in the face of the possibility of a third booster shot in order to better protect them from more vaccine-resistant variants of the virus.

Pfizer and BioNtech have released statements renewing calls for third doses, touting them as the best response to concerns over waning immune protection in the face of the highly contagious Delta variant, as worse strains may emerge. Amid fears that worse strains may emerge, earlier this month, Moderna said a third dose might be needed by winter.

New studies have emerged suggesting a third shot as the best way to amplify immune response, especially among transplant patients and others whose weakened immune systems prevent them from developing adequate anti-body levels after two doses.

One study from the New England Journal of Medicine looked at levels of different types of antibodies as well as T-cell responses in 120 transplant patients in Ontario and found increases in the majority of those who received a third vaccine dose.






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Will Canadians need third COVID-19 vaccine dose?


Will Canadians need third COVID-19 vaccine dose? – Jul 30, 2021

But some experts are calling for a pause, saying more data is needed before any decisions can be made.

“The evidence is still evolving on that front,” Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer of Canada, told reporters earlier this month, adding that experts are monitoring high-risk populations, like the immunocompromised and elderly, for a potential booster dose.

The World Health Organization has also called for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until at least the end of September in order to give all countries time to vaccinate at least 10 per cent of their populations.

“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it,” WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Aug. 4.

“We need an urgent reversal from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries to the majority going to low-income countries.”

More to come. 

— with files from Reuters, the Canadian Press and Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Japan’s SoftBank returns to profit after gains at Vision Fund and other investments

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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.

Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.

Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).

SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.

The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.

WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.

SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.

SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.

SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.

The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.

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Trump campaign promises unlikely to harm entrepreneurship: Shopify CFO

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Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.

“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.

“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”

Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.

On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.

If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.

These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.

If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.

However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.

He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.

“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.

Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.

The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.

Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.

Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.

Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.

Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.

Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”

In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.

“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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RioCan cuts nearly 10 per cent staff in efficiency push as condo market slows

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TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.

The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.

The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.

RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.

The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.

RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)

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