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Business

New suppliers race to plug in to electric car market

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WOKING, England, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The global auto industry has committed $1.2 trillion to developing electric vehicles (EVs), providing a golden opportunity for new suppliers to grab contracts providing everything from battery packs to motors and inverters.

Startups specialising in batteries and coatings to protect EV parts, and suppliers traditionally focused on niche motorsports or Formula One (F1) racing, have been chasing EV contracts. Carmakers design platforms to last a decade, so high-volume models can generate large revenues for years.

The next generation of EVs is due to hit around 2025 and many carmakers have sought help plugging gaps in their expertise, providing a window of opportunity for new suppliers.

“We’ve gone back to the days of Henry Ford where everyone is asking ‘how do you make these things work properly?’,” says Nick Fry, CEO of F1 engineering and technology firm McLaren Applied.

“That’s a huge opportunity for companies like us.”

Bought from McLaren by private equity firm Greybull Capital in 2021, McLaren Applied has adapted an efficient inverter developed for F1 racing for EVs. An inverter helps control the flow of electricity to and from the battery pack.

The silicon carbide IPG5 inverter weighs just 5.5 kg (12 lb) and can extend an EV’s range by over 7%. Fry says McLaren Applied is working with around 20 carmakers and suppliers, and the inverter will appear in high-volume luxury EV models starting January 2025.

Mass-market carmakers often prefer to develop EV components in-house and own the technology themselves. After years of pandemic-related parts shortages, they are wary of over-reliance on suppliers.

“We just can’t afford to be reliant on third parties making those investments for us,” said Tim Slatter, head of Ford (F.N) in Britain.

Traditional suppliers, such as German heavyweights Bosch and Continental (CONG.DE), are also investing heavily in EVs and other technologies to stay ahead in a fast-changing industry.

But smaller companies say there are still opportunities, particularly with low-volume manufacturers that cannot afford huge EV investments, or luxury and high-performance carmakers seeking an edge.

Croatia’s Rimac, an electric hypercar maker part-owned by Germany’s Porsche AG (P911_p.DE) that also supplies battery systems and powertrain components to other automakers, says an undisclosed German carmaker will use a Rimac battery system in a high-performance model – with annual production of around 40,000 units – starting this year, with more signed up.

“We need to be 20%, 30% better than what they can do and then they work with us,” CEO Mate Rimac says. “If they can make a 100-kilowatt hour battery pack, we must make a 130-kilowatt pack in the same dimensions for the same cost.”

NO TIME TO LOSE

Some suppliers like Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Actnano have had long relationships with EV pioneer Tesla (TSLA.O). Actnano has developed a coating that protects EV parts from condensation and its business has spread to advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), as well as other carmakers including Volvo (VOLCARb.ST), Ford, BMW (BMWG.DE) and Porsche.

California-based startup CelLink has developed an entirely automated, flat and easy-to-install “flex harness”, instead of a wire harness to group and guide cables in a vehicle. CEO Kevin Coakley would not identify customers but said CelLink’s harnesses had been installed in around a million EVs. Only Tesla has that scale.

Coakley said CelLink was working with U.S. and European carmakers, and with a European battery maker on battery wiring.

Others are focused on low-volume manufacturers, like UK startup Ionetic, which develops battery packs that would be too expensive for smaller companies to make themselves.

“Currently it costs just too much to electrify, which is why you see some manufacturers delaying their electrification launch,” CEO James Eaton said.

Since 1971, Swindon Powertrain has developed powerful motorsports engines. But it has now also developed battery packs, electric powertrains, e-axles and is working with around 20 customers, including carmakers and an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft maker.

“I realized if we don’t embrace this, we’re going to end up working for museums,” said managing director Raphael Caille.

But time may be running out.

Mate Rimac says major carmakers scrambled in the last three years to roll out EVs and now have strategies largely in place.

“For those who haven’t signed projects, I’m not sure how long the window of opportunity will remain open,” he said.

($1 = 0.8226 pounds)

Reporting by Nick Carey
Editing by Mark Potter

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Business

Philips parts ways with CEO in midst of massive recall

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  • Van Houten to leave after almost 12 years at helm
  • To be replaced on Oct. 15 by Connected Care head Jakobs
  • Shares up 2%, but down more than 50% since product recall

AMSTERDAM, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Philips (PHG.AS) Chief Executive Frans van Houten will leave the company in October, the Dutch health technology firm said on Tuesday, after a key product recall cut its market value by more than half over the past year.

Philips said Van Houten would be replaced on Oct. 15 by Roy Jakobs, head of the company’s Connected Care businesses. Van Houten’s third term as CEO had been due to end in April.

Jakobs, 48, is currently overseeing the company’s recall of millions of ventilators and machines for the treatment of sleep apnea. That process has lopped almost $30 billion off Philips’ value as investors fear large claims.

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“The time is right for the change in leadership,” Philips said in a statement.

Philips shares were up 2% in afternoon trading, but are still down almost 60% since its warning in June 2021 that foam used for sound dampening might release toxic gases that could carry cancer risks. read more

When it started the recall in September last year, Philips said it expected to complete the replacement and repair of all affected machines within a year.

But after broadening the scope of the operation to around 5.5 million devices worldwide, Philips in June said the work was only around halfway done.

ADDITIONAL TESTS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January classified the recall as Class 1, or the most serious type, posing a threat of injury or death.

The FDA said on Tuesday it had received 48,000 new Medical Device Reports containing complaints about potential injuries related to the Philips devices, including 44 deaths, between May 1 and July 31 this year. read more

That is more than twice as many reports as it received for the entire year to April 30, 2022, which totalled over 21,000. They included 124 deaths.

CEO Frans van Houten from the Dutch health technology company Philips presents the company’s financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2018, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, January 29, 2019. REUTERS/Eva Plevier

The FDA said it would analyse the reports and examine the possible reasons for the increased number.

The complaints do not prove causality, but are an indicator of the severity of the problem.

Philips in June said it had supplied the FDA with evidence from independent tests on the recalled devices which showed foam degradation was mainly linked to the use of aggressive, unauthorised ozone-based cleaning products. read more

It has promised to run additional tests to determine the potential toxicity of degraded foam parts, even though the tests so far had shown that the parts did not leave the machine.

Philips estimated the costs of the recall at 900 million euros ($915 million). That sum does not cover the possible costs of litigation. The company is facing more than a hundred class action suits.

“If you have three recalls in 10 years, it’s too much. His (Van Houten’s) position had become untenable,” said analyst Jos Versteeg of InsingerGilissen. He was referring to a defibrillator recall in 2017 and problems with medical scanners in 2014.

“This situation is not really under control, I think, because we’re still waiting for the definite conclusion of the (safety) studies.”

Although the blow to Philips’ reputation could have led it to pick an outsider for the top job, supervisory board chairman Feike Sijbesma said Jakobs was the right man to fix the company’s problems.

“He led the ramp up of production following the recall and knows very much about patient safety and product quality, so also from that perspective he is the right person,” he said.

During his almost 12 years at the helm, 62-year old Van Houten oversaw the disposal of Philips’ lighting and consumer electronics divisions.

Philips now focuses on medical imaging, monitoring and diagnostic equipment and competes against General Electric (GE.N) and Siemens Healthineers (SHLG.DE).

($1 = 0.9833 euros)

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Reporting by Bart Meijer; Additional reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington; Editing by Matt Scuffham, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Richard Pullin

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World

In world first, S.Africa’s Afrigen makes mRNA COVID vaccine using Moderna data

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CAPE TOWN, Feb 3 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics has used the publicly available sequence of Moderna Inc’s (MRNA.O) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to make its own version of the shot, which could be tested in humans before the end of this year, Afrigen’s top executive said on Thursday.

The vaccine candidate would be the first to be made based on a widely used vaccine without the assistance and approval of the developer. It is also the first mRNA vaccine designed, developed and produced at lab scale on the African continent.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last year picked a consortium including Afrigen for a pilot project to give poor and middle-income countries the know-how to make COVID vaccines, after market leaders of the mRNA COVID vaccine, Pfizer (PFE.N), BioNTech (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O), declined a WHO request to share their technology and expertise.

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The WHO and consortium partners hope their technology transfer hub will help overcome inequalities between rich nations and poorer countries in getting access to vaccines. Some 99% of Africa’s vaccines against all diseases are imported and the negligible remainder manufactured locally.

During the pandemic, wealthy countries have hoovered up most of the world’s supplies of vaccines.

Biovac, a partly state-owned South African vaccine producer, will be the first recipient of the technology from the hub. Afrigen has also agreed to help train companies in Argentina and Brazil.

In September, the WHO’s hub in Cape Town decided to go it alone after failing to bring on board Pfizer and Moderna, both of which have argued they need to oversee any technology transfer due to the complexity of the manufacturing process.

Moderna had no immediate comment on Afrigen’s announcement on Thursday.

Moderna’s vaccine was chosen by the WHO due to an abundance of public information and the company’s pledge not to enforce patents during the pandemic. It’s not clear what will happen after the pandemic ends and whether the company will try to enforce them again.

‘CUTTING-EDGE PRODUCTS’

A production scientist works with samples during a visit by representatives of the Medicines Patent Pool, France and other European Union member states, at the Afrigen Biologics’ site in Cape Town, South Africa, February 3, 2022. REUTERS/Shelley Christians

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“If this project shows that Africa can take cutting edge technology and produce cutting-edge products, this will banish this idea that Africa can’t do it and change the global mindset … this can be a game-changer,” Charles Gore, executive director at MPP, told Reuters at Afrigen’s facility, a converted warehouse.

Under pressure to make drugs in lower-income countries, Moderna and BioNTech have announced plans to build mRNA vaccine factories in Africa, but production is still a long way off.

“We haven’t copied Moderna, we’ve developed our own processes because Moderna didn’t give us any technology,” Petro Terblanche, managing director at Afrigen, told Reuters.

“We started with the Moderna sequence because that gives, in our view, the best starting material. But this is not Moderna’s vaccine, it is the Afrigen mRNA hub vaccine,” Terblanche said.

She later took a delegation of EU diplomats on a tour of the state-of-the-art facility where scientists were seen making mRNA in sterile white-walled rooms.

She said it had managed to make, in collaboration with Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, its first micro-litre laboratory scale batches of COVID mRNA vaccines at the Cape Town facility.

EASIER STORAGE

Terblanche said Afrigen was also working on a next generation mRNA vaccine that didn’t need freezing temperatures for storage, required for the Pfizer and Moderna doses, and which would be better suited to Africa, which is often dealing with high temperatures and poor health facilities and infrastructure.

“We will only make our clinical trial batch probably in six months from now, (meaning) … fit for humans. And the target is November 2022,” Terblanche added.

Online training for other companies to make the shot started with manufacturers in Brazil and Argentina last year. Afrigen expects to get more on board within the next month.

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Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio
Editing by Tim Cocks, Josephine Mason, Mark Potter and Frances Kerry

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Business

Pfizer CEO unsure on need for fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine

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A 3D printed Pfizer logo is placed near medicines from the same manufacturer in this illustration taken September 29, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

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Jan 10 (Reuters) – Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said on Monday he was unsure about the need for a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine and that a shot targeting the highly contagious Omicron variant would be ready in March.

The comments contrasted with those made by Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) CEO Stephen Bancel, who said last week people could need another shot in the fall of 2022 as the efficacy of boosters was likely to decline over the next few months.

A huge Omicron-driven spike in COVID-19 cases has forced some nations to look to another booster dose, but early signs suggest repeat vaccination may be a hard sell as beleaguered populations enter their third pandemic year. read more

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“I don’t know if there is a need for a fourth booster, that is something that needs to be tested,” Bourla said on CNBC, ahead of Pfizer’s presentation at the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference.

Work is ongoing on a new version of COVID-19 vaccine that would be effective against Omicron and other variants, he said.

The U.S. drugmaker earlier in the day announced three deals to broaden the use of the messenger RNA technology (mRNA) that its COVID-19 vaccine was based on, including a pact worth as much as $1.35 billion with gene-editing specialist Beam Therapeutics (BEAM.O).

Pfizer has been looking to advance the development of mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics after it led global efforts to develop a COVID-19 shot against the pandemic.

The company will also collaborate with Codex DNA Inc (DNAY.O) to leverage the biotech’s proprietary technology, which could enable more efficient development of mRNA-based vaccines, therapeutics and other biopharma products.

It deal with private biotech Acuitas Therapeutics will focus on the use of the Vancouver-based company’s lipid nanoparticle technology for developing up to ten vaccines or therapeutics.

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Reporting by Bhanvi Satija, Manojna Maddipatla and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Aditya Soni

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Business

Thermo Fisher says its COVID-19 tests accurately detects Omicron variant

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Syringes with needles are seen in front of a displayed stock graph and words “Omicron SARS-CoV-2” in this illustration taken, November 27, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/file photo

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Nov 29 (Reuters) – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO.N) said on Monday its COVID-19 diagnostic tests can accurately detect the new coronavirus variant Omicron that has prompted several countries to shut their borders.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) last week classified the Omicron variant as a SARS-CoV-2 “variant of concern,” saying it may spread more quickly than other forms. read more

Thermo Fisher’s TaqPath COVID-19 assays can report accurate results even in the case where one of the gene targets is impacted by a mutation, the company said in a statement.

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“This assay can be used not only to successfully detect COVID-19 but… it can also be used as a proxy for the [Omicron] variant,” Mark Stevenson, chief operating officer at Thermo Fisher Scientific, said in an interview.

Stevenson said this is the only COVID-19 diagnostic test that is both authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and can be used to indicate if a case is caused by the Omicron variant.

He added that Thermo is prepared to increase its production of tests to meet demand from countries in Africa and elsewhere as they work to track the spread of the new variant.

Other COVID-19 tests, including from Roche Holding AG (ROG.S) and Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N), can also be used to diagnose positive cases of COVID-19 caused by the variant, though only Thermo Fisher has so far confirmed that its test can be used to help identify the variant.

“We have conducted an assessment of the Omicron variant and we’re confident our antigen and PCR tests can” identify positive cases of COVID-19 caused by Omicron, a spokeswoman for Abbott said.

Test samples must still be sent to a lab for sequencing to confirm that the case was caused by Omicron and not another variant with similar features, such as the Alpha variant, Stevenson said.

Omicron, which was first detected in Southern Africa, has now been confirmed in Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, France, South Africa, and the United States’ neighbor to the north, Canada.

The WHO said it was working with technical experts to understand the potential impact of the variant on existing countermeasures against COVID-19, including vaccines.

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Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru and Carl O’Donnell in New York; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Andrea Ricci

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Health

Britain begins world’s largest trial of blood test for 50 types of cancer

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A DNA double helix is seen in an undated artist’s illustration released by the National Human Genome Research Institute to Reuters on May 15, 2012. REUTERS/National Human Genome Research Institute/Handout

LONDON, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Britain’s state-run National Health Service will on Monday begin the world’s biggest trial of Grail Inc’s (GRAL.O) flagship Galleri blood test that can be used to detect more than 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear.

The Galleri test looks at the DNA in a patient’s blood to determine if any come from cancer cells. Earlier diagnosis of cancers leads to dramatically increased survival rates.

The NHS said it wanted to recruit 140,000 volunteers in England to see how well the test worked as part of a randomised control trial. Half of the participants will have their blood sample screened with the Galleri test right away.

“We need to study the Galleri test carefully to find out whether it can significantly reduce the number of cancers diagnosed at a late stage,” said Peter Sasieni, professor of cancer prevention at King’s College London.

“The test could be a game changer for early cancer detection and we are excited to be leading this important research.”

Lung cancer is by far the most common cause of cancer death in the United Kingdom, accounting for around a fifth of all cancer deaths. Lung, bowel, prostate and breast cancers account for 45% of the United Kingdom’s cancer deaths, the NHS said.

U.S. life sciences company Illumina Inc (ILMN.O) said last month it had completed its $7.1 billion acquisition of Grail. Illumina said it will operate Grail separately from its existing business.

Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Mike Harrison

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World

Modi appeals to keep Hindu festival symbolic as India’s COVID-19 infections surge

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday appealed to devotees to keep a key Hindu festival symbolic, amid worries about the spread of COVID-19 infections as the country reported more than 200,000 new cases for a third straight day.

Criticism has mounted over the Indian government’s handling of the health crisis, as religious festivals and election rallies continue despite reports of shortages of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vaccination doses. read more

India reported 234,692 COVID-19 infections over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to nearly 14.5 million, second only to the United States.

Deaths from the disease rose by 1,341 to 175,649.

After hundreds of thousands of ascetics and devout Hindus gathered for several days along the banks of the Ganges for a religious festival Kumbh Mela, Modi on Saturday called for restraint, saying on Twitter the festival should now be kept “symbolic”.

Responding to Modi’s appeal, one of the religious leaders Swami Avdheshanand urged devotees to not gather in large numbers. Devout Hindus believe bathing in the holy Ganges absolves people of sins, and during the Kumbh Mela, brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.

Those returning to Mumbai in western Maharashtra state from the Kumbh Mela will have quarantine in hotels, Mumbai’s mayor Kishori Pednekar said. Maharashtra accounts for quarter of India’s coronavirus cases and is the worst hit region.

Experts have warned about the spread of more contagious variants of the disease, especially during large-scale gatherings for religious festivals and political rallies.

On Saturday, Modi was scheduled to hold two rallies in eastern state of West Bengal where state polls are ongoing. In recent weeks, such rallies have attracted thousands of people, few of whom follow COVID-19 safety protocols.

“Stop spreader rallies,” the Times of India said in an editorial on Saturday, adding: “Business as usual is an unaffordable luxury until this virus is conclusively tamed.”

India’s daily COVID-19 vaccinations have slowed from their record high early this month and many state governments have requested more doses.

Federal Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assured states there were no shortages and 11.6 million doses would be made available in a week, adding that 125 million doses have already been administered.

Some state governments in India have raised concerns over hoarding and black marketing of anti-viral drug Remdesivir. read more

Nawab Malik, a minister from Maharashtra, accused Modi’s federal government on Twitter for restricting Remdesivir supplies to the state. A minister in Modi’s cabinet, Mansukh Mandaviya, denied the allegation, saying adequate supplies were being arranged.

After imposing one of the world’s strictest lockdowns for nearly three months last year, India’s government relaxed almost all curbs by the beginning of 2021, although many regions have now introduced localised restrictions.

“This is Narendra Modi’s biggest crisis yet. It is bigger than any security threat, external or internal, or even the economic attrition of 2020,” prominent editor and political commentator Shekhar Gupta wrote in a column on Saturday.

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