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On a more positive note, Guggenheim upgraded GSK to buy thanks to strength across multiple product pipelines. Elsewhere, RBC upgraded Lyft to outperform, calling for a major rally ahead. Analyst Brad Erickson upgraded Lyft shares to outperform from sector perform, and raised his price target by $6 to $23, implying roughly 40.7% potential increase. — Pia Singh 6:10 a.m.: DoorDash upgraded by RBC on new partnerships potential, higher order growth RBC Capital Markets upgraded DoorDash to outperform from sector perform. Analyst Seamus Fernandez upgraded shares to buy from neutral and assigned a £20.31 price target, representing 21% upside to GSK's latest close.

Persons: Guggenheim, Wells Fargo, Timur Braziler, Braziler, — Pia Singh, Lyft, Brad Erickson, Erickson, Seamus Fernandez, Fernandez, Citi downgrades Ferrari, Ferrari, Harald Hendrikse, Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, Citi, Ferrari, GSK, RBC, Popular, RBC Capital Markets RBC Capital Markets, DASH, Capital Markets, Guggenheim Securities, drugmaker GSK, Guggenheim Locations: Wells Fargo, Puerto Rico, U.S, Wells, Shingrix, Arexvy, Milan

☆ Cameroon Launches Malaria Vaccination Programme in Global Milestone
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - The global fight against malaria took a stride forward on Monday as Cameroon launched the world's first routine vaccine programme against the mosquito-borne disease that is projected to save tens of thousands of children's lives per year across Africa. After successful trials, including in Ghana and Kenya, Cameroon is the first country to administer doses through a routine immunisation programme that 19 other countries aim to roll out this year, according to global vaccine alliance Gavi. Around 6.6 million children in these countries are targeted for malaria vaccination through 2024-25. Rolling out the second vaccine "is expected to result in sufficient vaccine supply to meet the high demand and reach millions more children," the WHO's director of immunization, Kate O'Brien, said at the briefing. This R21 vaccine, developed by University of Oxford, could be launched in May or June, said Gavi's Chief Programme Officer Aurelia Nguyen.

Persons: Mohammed Abdulaziz of, Kate O'Brien, Aurelia Nguyen, Alessandra Prentice, Jennifer Rigby, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Reuters, World Health Organization, WHO, British, GSK, for Disease Control, Prevention, University of Oxford Locations: Cameroon, Africa, Ghana, Kenya

☆ Lagos positions itself as global financial center after historic appearance at London’s Lord Mayor’s Show
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Stephanie Busari | Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Lagos, Nigeria CNN —Nigeria’s Lagos state marked a historic moment by making Africa’s inaugural appearance at the renowned Lord Mayor’s Show in London – an annual procession, steeped in 800 years of tradition, that celebrates the history and commerce of the city. Among the Lagos contingent were the traditional Eyo masquerades who take part in the famed Yoruba Eyo festival in the state. However, many backers believe that Lagos has the potential to evolve into a global financial hub capable of drawing substantial foreign investments into Nigeria. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, co-chair of the newly inaugurated Lagos International Financial Centre Council (LIFC) told CNN Lagos was now ready to position itself with global players. “A low stable inflation rate automatically signals a stable currency … and that’s the job half done,” he told CNN.

Persons: Mayor’s, Lord Mayor’s Show, Lagos, ”, Babajide Sanwo, ” “ Organizations: Nigeria CNN —, CNN, Lagos State, ” “ Lagos isn’t, Aig, Lagos International Financial Centre Council, CNN Lagos, ”, of, US Department of Commerce, United Arab, Dubai’s Emirates, GSK, Imoukhuede, Nigerian Central Bank Locations: Lagos, Nigeria, London, ” Lagos, ” “ Lagos, West, ” Nigeria, of London, United Arab Emirates, British

☆ Advil maker Haleon misses revenue estimates as North America demand drags
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Haleon Plc FollowGSK plc FollowNov 2 (Reuters) - Haleon (HLN.L) missed market estimates for third-quarter revenue on Thursday, as the world's largest consumer healthcare firm grappled with weak demand for its painkillers, digestive health and vitamin supplements in North America. For the three months ended Sept. 30, Haleon reported a 5% organic increase in revenue to 2.79 billion pounds ($3.40 billion), but it came slightly below analysts' expectations of 2.83 billion pounds, according to a company-compiled consensus. The company said overall volumes for the quarter declined by 1.6%, while North America revenues fell 7.5% on a reported basis. Haleon, which was carved out of British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) last year, has been raising prices to offset high costs. ($1 = 0.8215 pounds)Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Haleon, Eva Mathews, Rashmi Aich, Gerry Doyle Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, GSK, Consumer, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, North America, British, Bengaluru

☆ Pro Take: Making Medicines Greener
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Cecilia Butini | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Photo: mohamed hossam/ShutterstockMaking and supplying medicines generates roughly a third of the global healthcare industry’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Photo: Carlos Jasso/Bloomberg NewsBritish drugmaker GSK , for instance, plans to run on 100% renewable electricity by 2025 and to reach net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2045. GSK partnered with AstraZeneca , Merck KGaA, Novo Nordisk , Roche Holding , Samsung Biologics and Sanofi to form the SMI Health Systems Task Force in 2021. Last year, the partnership decided to strengthen their collaboration by focusing on cutting emissions in the near term and transitioning faster toward net-zero health systems. Novartis aims to achieve net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2040.

Persons: mohamed hossam, Carlos Jasso, “ We’ve, ”, Mike Peirce, Aurelio Arias, Arias, Claire Lund, Sanofi, Annabelle Harreguy, IQVIA’s Arias, “ It’s, ” Arias, Cecilia Butini Organizations: Pharmaceutical, Pharma, GSK, Bloomberg News British, Climate Group, Climate, Business, Sustainable Markets, Health Systems, Force, AstraZeneca, Merck KGaA, Novo Nordisk, Roche Holding, Samsung Biologics, Sanofi, SMI, Systems, Novartis, World Health Organization, cecilia.butini@wsj.com Locations: GSK’s, China, India, Novo

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 11 (Reuters) - GSK (GSK.L) on Wednesday said it would confidentially settle another lawsuit in California alleging its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer, as the British drugmaker sought to end costly litigation. The latest settlements in California related to cases due to go to trial in November, with a further set scheduled to begin in Delaware courts in January, GSK said. The company still faces about 79,000 cases related to Zantac in the United States, with 73,000 of them in Delaware. Late in June, the company agreed to settle a similar lawsuit with California resident James Goetz who alleged he developed bladder cancer after taking Zantac. The settlement could be read that GSK sees a risk that these Zantac cases are strong enough that the company might lose at trial, J.P Morgan added.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Morgan, Harper, Zantac, Boehringer Ingelheim, James Goetz, J.P Morgan, Eva Mathews, Maggie Fick, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, GSK, Citi, J.P, Pfizer, Sanofi, FDA, Thomson Locations: California, British, Delaware, United States, Bengaluru, London

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/SHANGHAI Oct 9 (Reuters) - China's largest vaccines company Zhifei (300122.SZ) will pay British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) 2.5 billion pounds ($3.05 billion pound) for the exclusive rights to distribute GSK's shingles vaccine in the world's No.2 pharmaceuticals market. The deal with Zhifei is part of its efforts to reach more 4 billion pounds ($4.88 billion) in sales by 2026, GSK said. Zhifei will purchase volumes of Shingrix with a value to GSK worth 2.5 billion pounds over an initial three-year period, GSK said. Zhifei shares were up as much as 20% to 58.40 yuan ($8.00) following the filing, their highest point since March 27. Shingrix is currently GSK's biggest product and strongest growth driver, taking in 1.71 billion pounds in first-half sales, up 20% from a year prior.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Zhifei, Shingrix, Maggie Fick, Andrew Silver, Eva Mathews, Savio D'Souza, Louise Heavens Organizations: GSK, GlaxoSmithKline, REUTERS, British, AstraZeneca, Zhifei, Barclays, Reuters, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, China, United States, London, Shanghai, Bengaluru

☆ GSK raises $1.1 billion from Haleon stake sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsOct 6 (Reuters) - British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) on Friday said it raised 885.6 million pounds ($1.08 billion) from a discounted stake sale in Haleon (HLN.L), cutting its shareholding to 7.4% in the world's largest standalone consumer healthcare firm. The sale of 270 million shares at 328 pence apiece, represented a discount of about 2.5% to Haleon's last close of 336.25 pence on Thursday. Shares in Haleon were down 1.2% while GSK was marginally up 0.4% at 0800 GMT. Pfizer, which holds a 32% stake in Haleon, said in May it plans to cut its ownership in a "slow and methodical" manner within months. The British drugmaker and Pfizer have agreed to not sell any further Haleon shares for 60 days from the settlement of placing.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Emma Walmsley, Prerna Bedi, Sonia Cheema, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: GSK, GlaxoSmithKline, REUTERS, British, AstraZeneca, London Stock Exchange, Pfizer, Thomson Locations: Haleon, British, Bengaluru

☆ GSK Nigeria calls an end to its business, to return cash
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Chijioke Ohuocha | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ABUJA, Aug 3 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Nigeria (GLAXOSM.LG) said on Thursday it plans to stop doing business after evaluating the options for moving to a third-party distribution model for its drugs and consumer healthcare goods. GSK Nigeria, which has faced increased competition from local companies and imports from India and China, said its half-year sales had dropped to 7.75 billion naira ($9.82 million), from 14.8 billion naira in the same period a year ago. GSK Nigeria said it is working with advisers to agree next steps and plans to submit a scheme of arrangement to Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission, which if approved will see it return cash to shareholders except its parent GSK. "For the above reasons, and having, together with GSK UK, evaluated various other options, the Board of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc has concluded that there is no alternative but to cease operations," GSK Nigeria said in a statement. Shares in GSK Nigeria, in which British drugmaker GSK has a 46.4% stake and Nigerian shareholders the remaining 53.6%, closed at 8.10 naira, down from a peak of 42.24 naira in 2014.

Persons: Bola Tinubu, Tinubu, Chijioke Ohuocha, Alexander Smith Organizations: GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Nigeria's Securities, Exchange Commission, Haleon, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc, British, Thomson Locations: ABUJA, Nigeria, GSK Nigeria, India, China, British, Africa

☆ Nine new African countries to receive millions of malaria vaccines- GAVI
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 5 (Reuters) - Global vaccine alliance GAVI said on Wednesday 12 countries in Africa would receive 18 million doses of malaria vaccine over the next two years, expanding access to the shots to nine new countries in the region. Malaria remains one of the continent's deadliest diseases, killing nearly half a million children each year under the age of five. In 2021, Africa accounted for about 95% of global malaria cases and 96% of deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). "At least 28 African countries have expressed interest in receiving the RTS,S (malaria) vaccine," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing, adding that a second malaria vaccine was under review for pre-qualification and if successful, could provide additional supply in the short term. The first doses of the RTS,S vaccine are expected to reach the 12 African countries during the last quarter of 2023, allowing them to start rolling out by early next year.

Persons: GAVI, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Raghav Mahobe, Shinjini Organizations: World Health Organization, WHO, GAVI, UNICEF, British, GSK, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Niger, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Bengaluru

☆ GSK says FDA extends review period for experimental drug momelotinib
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 16 (Reuters) - British drugmaker GSK Plc (GSK.L) on Friday said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended the review period for its experimental drug momelotinib, which is designed to treat anaemic patients with a type of bone marrow cancer called myelofibrosis. Momelotinib is not currently approved in any market. Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann ThoppilOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Momelotinib, Eva Mathews, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: drugmaker GSK, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

June 7 (Reuters) - European regulators have approved the region's first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which causes thousands of hospitalisations and deaths annually. The shot, called Arexvy, is made by British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) and is designed to protect people aged 60 and over. The complex molecular structure of the virus and safety concerns with previous vaccine attempts had stymied efforts to successfully develop a shot since the virus was first discovered in 1956. Given the different definitions of the trial endpoints across the GSK and Pfizer trials, a direct comparison of efficacy is difficult. In Europe, RSV leads to over 270,000 hospitalisations and about 20,000 in-hospital deaths in adults over 60 each year.

Persons: Luke Miels, Peter Welford, TD Cowen, Steve Scala, Natalie Grover, Eva Mathews, Maggie Fick, Savio D'Souza, Mark Potter Organizations: GSK, European Commission, European Medicines Agency, Reuters, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Pfizer, Jefferies, Thomson Locations: British, Europe, U.S, London, Bengaluru

☆ Gucci-Owner Kering, Drugmaker GSK and Others Are Developing Global Targets on Nature Loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Dieter Holger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Luxury group Kering and biopharma company GSK are among more than a dozen companies preparing targets to develop a gold standard for how businesses can protect nature. Yet the issues surrounding nature loss are complex and many companies are unsure how to measure it or what to do. The Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures, a business-backed effort to protect biodiversity, is working on a reporting framework, and SBTN is developing standards to evaluate companies’ nature targets. “We expect that the landscapes will be similar [to the ones under the SBTN targets], ” Gonçalves Krebsbach said. In 2020, GSK started to map out stressed water basins in its supply chain.

☆ Sales, spins and splits — what are the differences and why do they matter for investors like us?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +20 min

Investors may get one share in the spun-out entity for every share of the parent company they owned. What's left of J & J will be focused on pharmaceuticals and medical technologies, which were responsible for over 84% of the company's total 2022 revenue of $94.94 billion. It underscores that once free of the parent company tethers a divested company can chart its own destiny. Those priorities may not have necessarily been wrong when considering J & J as the overall enterprise. We believe J & J and Danaher are poised to deliver two more examples.

Companies GSK plc FollowLONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - British drugmaker GSK on Wednesday warned that the overhaul of laws governing the EU's pharmaceuticals industry risks forcing companies to invest and innovate elsewhere, which would hurt EU efforts to improve access to medicines. The European Commission will publish its long-awaited draft on Wednesday, detailing the biggest overhaul of medical laws in 20 years. The Commission has said the reforms aim to tackle unequal access to medicines across Europe while retaining the region's competitiveness for pharma companies developing and bringing new treatments to market. However, pressure to weaken market exclusivity protections could discourage companies from researching and launching treatments in Europe, she added. Reporting by Maggie Fick and Natalie Grover Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Oxford scientist Adrian Hill said Ghana's drug regulator has approved the vaccine domestically for the age group at highest risk of death from malaria - children aged 5 months to 36 months. Oxford has a deal with Serum Institute of India to produce up to 200 million doses of the vaccine - known as R21 - annually. "This shows how close the world is to having a second approved vaccine to fight malaria," he said. MEETING THE NEEDThe first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix from British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L), was endorsed by the WHO last year after decades of work. Since it began in 2019, 1.2 million children across the three countries have received at least one dose of the Mosquirix vaccine.

☆ GSK licenses companies to make cheap copies of HIV prevention drug
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) has signed deals with three companies allowing them to make inexpensive generic versions of its long-acting HIV preventive medicine for use in lower-income countries, where the majority of new HIV cases occur. The injected drug cabotegravir was approved by regulators in the United States in late 2021. Last July, GSK announced a program with the United Nations-backed healthcare organisation, the Medicines Patent Pool, aiming to get poor countries access to new HIV therapies far earlier than they did for previous HIV medicines. GSK said last year the new program could result in the generic form of its injection being available in lower-income countries beginning in 2026. The generic copies will be supplied in 90 countries, subject to regulatory approvals there, the statement said.

☆ Pfizer ready to launch RSV vaccines for older adults, pregnant women in US, Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Maggie Fick | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PUURS, Belgium March 9 (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Pfizer (PFE.N) is ready to launch its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for both older adults and pregnant women in the U.S. and Europe later this year, executives said on Thursday. Both Pfizer and British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) have RSV vaccines they hope to launch in the U.S. and Europe this year, pending regulators’ approval. “We are anticipating approval in both the U.S. and Europe in time for rollout in the fall,” Kena Swanson, Pfizer's head of viral vaccines research & development, told a media briefing at the company's biggest manufacturing and packaging site globally. GSK told Reuters on Wednesday that it is also ready to launch its RSV vaccine for older adults in the U.S. this year without supply constraints. GSK last year voluntarily stopped its clinical trial of its own RSV vaccine on pregnant women and is currently only pursuing the use of its vaccine on older adults, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.

LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - Haleon (HLN.L), the world's biggest standalone consumer health business with brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste and Advil painkillers, reported its first full-year results on Thursday which analysts said were in line with expectations. Analysts said on Thursday that Haleon has had a strong start to 2023, and its full-year revenue growth forecast of 4% to 6% was in line or just ahead of consensus estimates. Rivals with consumer health operations, such as Bayer (BAYGn.DE) and Reckitt (RKT.L), have charged higher prices to partly offset broader falls in sales volumes. "Our organic (full-year) revenue growth ... was well balanced between volume and price, with two thirds of the business gaining or holding share," McNamara said. Haleon, which is made up of assets previously owned by GSK and Pfizer (PFE.N) reported organic revenue growth of 9% last year, just ahead of the 8-8.5% increase it predicted for 2022.

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/IllustrationFeb 16 (Reuters) - GSK Plc (GSK.L) is expected to urge a California judge on Thursday to limit what expert testimony jurors can hear in the first trial over claims that the company's heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer. The trial, scheduled to begin Feb. 27 before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, will offer the first test of how Zantac cancer claims may fare in state courts. The plaintiff in the upcoming trial, James Goetz, says he developed bladder cancer from taking Zantac sold by British drugmaker GSK. Lawsuits began piling up soon after the recalls began from people who said they developed cancer after taking Zantac. Cases have been filed linking Zantac to at least 10 types of cancer.

☆ BioNTech starts human trial to test malaria vaccine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationBERLIN, Dec 23 (Reuters) - BioNTech (22UAy.DE) on Friday initiated an early-stage study to evaluate its experimental malaria vaccine in humans, the German drugmaker said. The Phase 1 trial is expected to enrol 60 volunteers in the United States with no history of malaria to assess the vaccine candidate at three-dose levels. Known as BNT165b1, it is the first vaccine candidate from BioNTech's malaria project, which will also establish vaccine production in Africa. Another keenly-watched effort is a malaria vaccine from Oxford University. BioNTech's malaria vaccine effort is based on its mRNA technology, which was employed during the pandemic to quickly develop COVID-19 vaccines, by prompting the human body to make a protein that is part of the pathogen, triggering an immune response.

☆ Big pharma not doing enough to improve drug access - analysis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Natalie Grover | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A doctor tests a child for malaria at the Ithani-Asheri Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania, May 11, 2016. While there has been progress, there remain some gaping holes that need to be prioritised in the coming years, Access to Medicine Foundation CEO Jayasree Iyer told Reuters. The findings mirror a long-established pattern - that the pharmaceutical industry will prioritise countries where there is a market, she said. "If we consistently see that the industry leaves low income countries behind, then we're never going to solve the problem of access at scale," she said. In terms of overall rankings on the Access to Medicine Index, British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) retained the top spot, closely followed by U.S. pharma major Johnson & Johnson (J&J) (JNJ.N).

☆ GSK poaches Burberry CFO Julie Brown to create all-female top team, Sky News reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterGSK (GlaxoSmithKline) logo is seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationSept 24 (Reuters) - British drugmaker GSK plc has poached Burberry Group's (BRBY.L) finance chief to create a rare all-female executive leadership team, Sky News reported on Saturday. GSK could announce as soon as Monday morning that it has recruited Julie Brown to replace Iain Mackay, who has served as its chief financial officer since 2019, the report added. On Friday, Burberry announced that its finance chief Julie Brown will step down in April 2023 after more than five years in the role. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ GSK poaches Burberry CFO Julie Brown to create all-female top team - Sky News
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

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