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☆ Fitch downgrades Egypt one notch deeper into junk territory
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The downgrade reflects increased risks to Egypt's external financing, macroeconomic stability and the trajectory of already-high government debt, the rating agency said. The ratings agency said it expects Egypt to face a significant rise in external debt maturities in fiscal years ending June 2024 and June 2025, from that which ended in June 2023. The rating agency expects receipts from tourism, the Suez Canal and a recovery of remittances to help contain financing needs from larger imports. "Israel-Hamas war poses significant downside risks to tourism, although we build in some near-term hit," Fitch said. In October, fellow ratings agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's (S&P) both downgraded Egypt's credit ratings by a notch.

Persons: Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Fitch, Vaibhav, Shailesh Organizations: REUTERS, Monetary Fund, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Cairo, Egypt, Egypt's, Suez, Gaza, Israel, Bengaluru

☆ US CDC says existing antibodies can work against new COVID variant
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Early research data has shown that antibodies produced by prior infection or existing vaccines against the coronavirus were sufficient to protect against the new BA.2.86 variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday. The Food and Drug Administration in the coming days is expected to authorize the updated vaccines that target the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron, and early data provide encouraging signs for the new shots, CDC said. Since CDC's initial risk assessment last month, BA.2.86 has been identified in nine U.S. states as of Friday. The Omicron offshoot has also been identified from both human and wastewater specimens in countries including Japan, UK and Canada. Reporting by Vaibhav Sadhamta in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: coronavirus, Vaibhav, Shailesh Organizations: U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, Drug Administration, CDC, Omicron, Canada, Thomson Locations: United States, Japan, Bengaluru

☆ US FDA approves Regeneron's ultra-rare blood disease drug
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Pratik Jain | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsAug 18 (Reuters) - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN.O) said on Friday the U.S. health regulator approved its drug to treat a rare blood disease. The drug pozelimab, branded as Veopoz, would treat CHAPLE disease in adult and pediatric patients 1 year of age and older. Regeneron said the disease has fewer than 10 patients identified in the U.S. and estimates less than 100 patients worldwide. With Veopoz's approval, the company said the pre-approval inspection issues related to the marketing application of the higher dose of its blockbuster eye disease drug Eylea, or aflibercept, has been addressed. The FDA had in June declined to approve the higher-dose version following an inspection at third-party manufacturer Catalent (CTLT.N).

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Veopoz, Regeneron, 8mg, Evan Seigerman, Seigerman, Vaibhav Sadhamta, Khushi, Shilpi Majumdar Organizations: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, REUTERS, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Reuters, BMO Capital, FDA, Thomson Locations: Westchester, Tarrytown , New York, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Drug distributor Cardinal sees sales boost from weight-loss drugs in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Mariam E Sunny | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 15 (Reuters) - Drug distributor Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) on Tuesday raised fiscal 2024 expectations for sales at its pharmaceutical unit, banking on growing demand for newer weight-loss drugs, including GLP-1 treatments. Cardinal peers AmerisourceBergen (ABC.N) and McKesson (MCK.N) have also flagged a potential boost to revenues for drug distributors due to high demand for these drugs. It now expects revenue from its pharmaceuticals unit to rise 10% to 12% in fiscal 2024, compared with its previous expectation of about 10% growth. It raised its 2024 profit forecast slightly to a range of $6.50 to $6.75 per share, from $6.45 to $6.70 it had forecast previously. Excluding one-off items, Cardinal Health reported a profit of $1.55 per share in the fourth quarter ended June 30, topping expectations of $1.49 per share.

Persons: Novo, Eli Lilly's, it's, Cardinal, AmerisourceBergen, Aaron Alt, Vaibhav Sadhamta, Mariam Sunny, Pooja Desai Organizations: Health Inc, Cardinal Health, Thomson Locations: United States, Bengaluru

☆ Charles River says NHP supply snarls to no longer persist near-term
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 9 (Reuters) - Charles River Laboratories International (CRL.N) beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter results on Wednesday, as the strong demand for contract researcher's tools and services cushioned the impact of suspended non-human primates' (NHP) shipment. The statement comes after Charles River in February suspended the shipment of NHPs from Cambodia as the Department of Justice and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the company over smuggling of wild long-tailed macaques to the United States. The Massachusetts-based company tightened its full-year profit forecast to the range of $10.30 to $10.90 per share, compared with $9.90 to $10.90 previously expected. Excluding items, the company earned $2.69 per share in the quarter ended July 1, beating analysts' average estimate of $2.64 per share.

Persons: Charles River, Charles River's, Vaibhav Sadhamta, Shweta Agarwal Organizations: River Laboratories, Department of Justice, Fish, Wildlife Service, Thomson Locations: United States, NHPs, Cambodia, The Massachusetts

Major insurers UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) and Humana (HUM.N) have already warned of booking higher costs due to a jump in non-urgent surgeries in the United States, highlighting demand for such procedures. HCA Healthcare, which is the biggest for-profit hospital operator in the United States, raised its full-year adjusted core earnings forecast to between $12.3 billion and $12.8 billion, from prior expectations of between $12.1 and $12.7 billion. "We anticipate the market wanted more even though HCA's outlook remains prudent as the healthcare system normalizes," said Citi analyst Jason Cassorla. Shares of rivals Tenet Healthcare (THC.N) and Universal Health Services (UHS.N) fell 2% and 1%, respectively, in morning trading. Profits at hospital operators took a hit following COVID-led lockdowns as people delayed non-urgent surgeries, and as the pandemic deepened a nursing shortage that led to a spike in costs.

Persons: Jason Cassorla, lockdowns, Khushi Mandowara, Manas Mishra, Shinjini Ganguli, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Healthcare Inc, UnitedHealth, HCA Healthcare, Citi, Tenet Healthcare, Universal Health Services, Thomson Locations: United States, Bengaluru

☆ Intesa launches cloud-based Isybank in digital push
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Vaibhav Sadhamta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Isybank is powered by cloud technology provided by Britain's ThoughtMachine, a cloud-native banking technology firm. High-street banks globally face a big challenge in replacing their existing core IT infrastructure, known as mainframe, with cloud technology. Legacy systems pose a major hurdle, while the task is easy for challenger banks built from scratch on cloud technology. Intesa Sanpaolo has forecast its new digital bank would save around 800 million euros a year in 2026-2027, up from 600 million euros in 2025, according to a strategy presentation delivered in February last year. Isybank targets some 4 million Intesa customers who generate around 200 million euros in revenues a year and could become more profitable for the bank if shifted away from branches given they already only use digital bank services.

Persons: Britain's ThoughtMachine, Paul Taylor, Intesa, Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina, Stefano Barrese, Valentina Za, Conor Humphries Organizations: MILAN, Google, Thomson Locations: Italy's, Italy, Europe

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