Wed, April 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM EDT
Business
Canada’s top doctor ‘optimistic’ after Canada-China vaccine partnership collapses – Global News
In the aftermath of the collapse of a multimillion-dollar coronavirus vaccine collaboration between Canada and China, Canada’s chief public health officer says she is optimistic about advance purchase deals made recently with the American producers of two front-running vaccine candidates.
This week Canada’s National Research Council (NRC) announced it has abandoned its partnership with Chinese company CanSino Biologics because China’s government continues to block shipments of vaccine materials to Canada. If Canada had received CanSino’s vaccine this summer and confirmed its safety and effectiveness in testing, Canadians would have been front-of-line for a guaranteed supply of the vaccine, produced in NRC facilities.
But Canadian scientists and a former Canadian official responsible for vaccine collaborations with China told Global News it appears Chinese officials have blocked CanSino material because of Beijing’s geopolitical objectives.
At a COVID-19 response briefing Friday, chief public health officer Teresa Tam said she is “optimistic” despite the CanSino collapse and Canada is “continuing to pursue all (potential vaccine supply) avenues internationally and domestically.”
Earlier this month, the Canadian government signed new deals with pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Moderna to secure millions of doses in 2021 of the coronavirus vaccine candidates each company is currently developing.
Tam said there are over 100 vaccine candidates in testing worldwide and Pfizer and Moderna are in the group of about 10 going through Phase 3 clinical testing.
“I was heartened with the results for older adults in the Moderna vaccine [testing],” Tam said. “But you might not expect this vaccine for quite a few months, and we may be looking at [obtaining supply of] more than one vaccine. We are keeping all of those options open.”
Canadian vaccine researcher Gary Kobinger said the CanSino vaccine has fallen behind many candidates worldwide after its Phase 2 test results. In simple terms, the CanSino vaccine is designed to prepare immune systems to fight the coronavirus by introducing another virus — Ad5-nCoV — that encourages the production of coronavirus antibodies.
However, many elderly people have already been exposed to the virus used in the CanSino vaccine. And that means their bodies have already naturally developed defences, and won’t produce the needed coronavirus antibodies without boosted doses, Kobinger says.
“It’s a waste because it is not effective for the most important population,” Kobinger said. “There are many candidates that Canada should be betting on rather than this one.”
Meanwhile, CanSino responded Friday to reports that NRC has abandoned its partnership with China.
“Up to the date of this announcement, the collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada and the Company has not been terminated. None of the management of the Company has accepted any interview in relation to the clinical trails (sic) for Ad5-nCoV in Canada in the recent period,” a statement sent to Global News says. “The Company is currently driving the international multi-centre phase III clinical trial for Ad5-nCoV with several countries.”
And according to the Wall Street Journal, a senior CanSino executive said the company is negotiating with several countries “to get emergency approval to use an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, developed with the Chinese military, before the completion of large-scale safety and effectiveness trials.”
“Pierre Morgon, senior vice-president for international business at CanSino, said getting the vaccine out to millions of people now, before its clinical trials are complete, would broaden the base of knowledge about the drug’s safety and effectiveness,” the Journal reported.
Morgon said several developed countries were in talks with CanSino, along with Pakistan and some Latin American countries, according to the report.
CanSino did not immediately respond to questions from Global News for this story.
And the NRC did not respond to a question from Global News on the information in the Wall Street Journal report.
The NRC — which is part of the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry — has received about $44 million since late March to upgrade its production capacity in Montreal in preparation for materials expected from CanSino.
The NRC says it is working with two other COVID-19 vaccine collaborators including the United States company VBI Vaccines.
“With the funding received from the Government of Canada on March 23 and April 23, much work is underway at NRC … to certify our facility … and expand production,” the NRC stated. “These enhancements to the facility will support a broad range of partners and clients with research, scale-up support, and the manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics.”
© 2020 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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Business
Oil Firms Doubtful Trans Mountain Pipeline Will Start Full Service by May 1st
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Oil companies planning to ship crude on the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline in Canada are concerned that the project may not begin full service on May 1 but they would be nevertheless obligated to pay tolls from that date.
In a letter to the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), Suncor Energy and other shippers including BP and Marathon Petroleum have expressed doubts that Trans Mountain will start full service on May 1, as previously communicated, Reuters reports.
Trans Mountain Corporation, the government-owned entity that completed the pipeline construction, told Reuters in an email that line fill on the expanded pipeline would be completed in early May.
After a series of delays, cost overruns, and legal challenges, the expanded Trans Mountain oil pipeline will open for business on May 1, the company said early this month.
“The Commencement Date for commercial operation of the expanded system will be May 1, 2024. Trans Mountain anticipates providing service for all contracted volumes in the month of May,” Trans Mountain Corporation said in early April.
The expanded pipeline will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.
The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the expansion of the pipeline have quadrupled to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).
The expansion project has faced continuous delays over the years. In one of the latest roadblocks in December, the Canadian regulator denied a variance request from the project developer to move a small section of the pipeline due to challenging drilling conditions.
The company asked the regulator to reconsider its decision, and received on January 12 a conditional approval, avoiding what could have been another two-year delay to start-up.
Business
Tesla profits cut in half as demand falls
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Tesla profits slump by more than a half
Tesla has announced its profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023.
It caps a difficult period for the electric vehicle (EV) maker, which – faced with falling sales – has announced thousands of job cuts.
Boss Elon Musk remains bullish about its prospects, telling investors the launch of new models would be brought forward.
Its share price has risen but analysts say it continues to face significant challenges, including from lower-cost rivals.
The company has suffered from falling demand and competition from cheaper Chinese imports which has led its stock price to collapse by 43% over 2024.
Figures for the first quarter of 2024 revealed revenues of $21.3bn, down on analysts’ predictions of just over $22bn.
But the decision by Tesla to bring forward the launch of new models from the second half of 2025 boosted its shares by nearly 12.5% in after-hours trading.
It did not reveal pricing details for the new vehicles.
However Mr Musk made clear he also grander ambitions, touting Tesla’s AI credentials and plans for self-driving vehicles – even going as far as to say considering it to be just a car company was the “wrong framework.”
“If somebody doesn’t believe Tesla is going to solve autonomy I think they should not be an investor,” he said.
Such sentiments have been questioned by analysts though, with Deutsche Bank saying driverless cars face “technological, regulatory and operational challenges.”
Some investors have called for the company to instead focus on releasing a lower price, mass-market EV.
However, Tesla has already been on a charm offensive, trying to win over new customers by dropping its prices in a series of markets in the face of falling sales.
It also said its situation was not unique.
“Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” it said.
Despite plans to bring forward new models originally planned for next year the firm is cutting its workforce.
Tesla said it would lose 3,332 jobs in California and 2,688 positions in Texas, starting mid-June.
The cuts in Texas represent 12% of Tesla’s total workforce of almost 23,000 in the area where its gigafactory and headquarters are located.
However, Mr Musk sought to downplay the move.
“Tesla has now created over 30,000 manufacturing jobs in California!” he said in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Another 285 jobs will be lost in New York.
Tesla’s total workforce stood at more than 140,000 late last year, up from around 100,000 at the end of 2021, according to the company’s filings with US regulators.
Musk’s salary
The car firm is also facing other issues, with a struggle over Mr Musk’s compensation still raging on.
On Wednesday, Tesla asked shareholders to vote for a proposal to accept Mr Musk’s compensation package – once valued at $56bn – which had been rejected by a Delaware judge.
The judge found Tesla’s directors had breached their fiduciary duty to the firm by awarding Mr Musk the pay-out.
Due to the fall in Tesla’s stock value, the compensation package is now estimated to be around $10bn less – but still greater than the GDP of many countries.
In addition, Tesla wants its shareholders to agree to the firm being moved from Delaware to Texas – which Mr Musk called for after the judge rejected his payday.
Business
Stock market today: Nasdaq futures pop, Tesla surges after earnings with more heavyweights on deck
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Tech stocks rose on Wednesday, outstripping the broader market as investors welcomed Tesla’s (TSLA) cheaper car pledge and waited for the next rush of corporate earnings.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose roughly 0.6%, coming off a sharp closing gain. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.2%, continuing a rebound from its longest losing streak of 2024, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%.
Tesla shares jumped nearly 12% after the EV maker’s vow to speed up the launch of more affordable models eclipsed its quarterly earnings and revenue miss. That cheered up investors worried about growth amid a strategy shift to robotaxis and the planned cancellation of a cheaper model.
The results from the first “Magnificent Seven” to report have intensified the already high hopes for Big Tech earnings, that the megacaps can revive the rally in stocks they powered. The spotlight is now on Meta’s (META) report due after the market close, as the Facebook owner’s shares rose after the Senate voted for a potential ban on rival TikTok. Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG) next up on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Boeing (BA) reported better than expected first quarter results before the opening bell with a loss per share of $1.13, narrower than the $1.72 estimated by Wall Street. Shares rose about 2% in morning trade.
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