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The Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. company logo will be displayed on Monday, August 18, 2014 at the headquarters of Chugai Pharma Manufacturing Co. in Tokyo, Japan.

Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg via Getty Images

SINGAPORE – Shares in Japanese drug maker Chugai Pharmaceutical rose sharply in trading Tuesday after the UK government found the drug tocilizumab was effective in reducing the risk of death and hospital stay for Covid patients.

In trading on Tuesday morning, Chugai’s shares rose 16.26%. The stock has since trimmed some of those gains, but is still trading 7% higher. Tuesday was the first trading day of the week for Chugai shares as Japanese markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.

In a press release on Thursday, the UK said the results of a government-funded clinical trial showed that tocilizumab was among two drugs that “reduced the relative risk of death by 24% when given to patients within 24 hours of entering the intensive care unit was administered “.

The press release also states that patients who received the drugs typically used to treat rheumatoid arthritis “left the intensive care unit an average of 7 to 10 days earlier”.

UK Health and Welfare Secretary Matt Hancock said the results were “another milestone in finding a way out of this pandemic”.

The government also said it will start promoting tocilizumab use in patients admitted to the intensive care unit. NHS will also be working with manufacturer Roche to ensure treatment remains available to UK patients.

Tocilizumab, marketed as Actemra or RoActemra, is part of a joint development between Roche and Chugai. Roche is also the majority shareholder in Chugai.

Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson put England on hold to contain a variant of Covid-19 that is more contagious than previous strains.

Coronavirus infection rates continue to rise in many parts of the world even as countries start introducing vaccinations. As a result, some governments have reintroduced social distancing restrictions.

To date, the disease has infected at least 90.8 million people and killed more than 1.9 million people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

People walk at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.

Hannah McKay | Reuters

Two key House Democrats on Monday called on the Federal Aviation Administration to take action against recalcitrant travelers and ensure that those involved in last week’s riots do not fly at the US Capitol.

Your comments come ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration and following reports of disruptions on board flights in Washington, DC, ahead of Wednesday’s US Capitol riot and other flights out of the area afterwards. The incidents included pro-Trump chants, arguments from passengers and refusal to wear masks. Masks are required to fly on US airlines.

“This behavior can cause serious problems if it occurs in the cabin, especially if pilots and flight attendants are forced to de-escalate or respond to such events while they are performing their critical safety duties to ensure the well-being of every traveler on board,” so Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington, chairman of the subcommittee on aviation, wrote in a letter viewed by CNBC to FAA Administrator Steve Dickson.

The FAA did not respond immediately.

Alaska Airlines said Friday it banned 14 travelers from flying from Washington, DC to Seattle. The travelers were “not mask-conforming, loud, argumentative and harassed our crew members,” said spokesman Ray Lane.

A video on social media showed Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., being harassed for confirming the November presidential election results. The airlines also took other precautionary measures prior to the demonstration planned at the time, e.g. B. Moving crews to airport hotels outside of central Washington, DC

“Unfortunately, as members of this mob have left the capital of our nation, their obnoxious behavior continues in airports and on board commercial aircraft, as evidenced by press reports depicting” capricious “and” unruly “behavior and harassment of travelers and crew members during the flight and the speech will be described by elected officials, “wrote the legislature.

FAA chief Dickson warned travelers Saturday that they would face hefty fines and possible jail time if they behaved unruly. Interference with flight crews is unlawful and can be fined up to $ 35,000.

Lawmakers urged Dickson to do more, including working with airlines, airports, trade unions and others “to develop a plan to implement multiple layers of action under the Constitution to identify cases of those related to the attack from last Wednesday or their attacks. ” Sympathizers could try to fly to Washington, DC again. “

They asked Dickson to come up with a plan by Friday.

Assembly line for the engines for the Ford KA 1.0 3-cylinder in the Ford Engines plant in Camaçari, Brazil.

Paulo Fridman | Corbis News | Getty Images

Ford Motor ends vehicle production in Brazil as part of a restructuring of its South American operations. The measures, including the closure of three plants, are expected to result in input tax charges of $ 4.1 billion, Ford said Monday.

The automaker said it would primarily charge around $ 2.5 billion in cash fees in 2021 for employee separation, termination, billing, and other payments. In addition, non-cash tax write-offs and accelerated write-downs of approximately $ 1.6 billion will be recorded. According to the company, about $ 2.5 billion in fees are expected to be booked in 2020.

The automaker’s shares rose more than 3% on Monday afternoon. The stock is down about 1% over the past year, increasing its market value to $ 36.2 billion.

Ford has operated in Brazil for more than a century. However, the region and operations have been unstable in recent years. The Detroit automaker lost $ 386 million in South America in the first three quarters of 2020. In 2019, he lost $ 704 million in the region.

Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, described the restructuring in a statement as “very difficult but necessary steps to create a healthy and sustainable business”.

Ford is actively evaluating and restructuring its global operations, including those in South America, and is seeking to implement a $ 11 billion turnaround plan that began in 2018 under Farley’s predecessor, Jim Hackett. Ford hopes to increase profitability by adjusting the EBIT margin by 8% and generate consistently strong adjusted free cash flow.

Production at the Camacari and Taubate plants in Brazil will cease immediately. However, some parts will continue to be manufactured for a few months to support aftermarket inventory, Ford said. Another facility in Horizonte, Brazil, will continue operating through the fourth quarter. It is expected that around 5,000 employees will be affected.

Ford said it would immediately work closely with its unions and other stakeholders to “develop a just and balanced plan to mitigate the effects of the cessation of production”.

Ford is not leaving the market. The company plans to continue vehicle sales in Brazil by sourcing vehicles from plants in Argentina, Uruguay and other markets. The company will also maintain its headquarters in South America, its product development center and testing ground in Brazil.

“We are moving to a lean business model by stopping production in Brazil and offering our customers some of the best and most exciting vehicles in our global portfolio,” said Farley.

As part of the restructuring, Ford expects to expand the range of connected and electrified vehicles in South America.

The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus takes part in a press conference on the situation of the coronavirus (COVID-2019) in Geneva.

Denis Balibouse | Reuters

New, more contagious mutated variants of the coronavirus are “very problematic” and could cause more cases and hospital stays if the spread of the virus is not suppressed immediately, the World Health Organization head said Monday.

The global health authority was briefed on a new strain of Covid-19 discovered in Japan over the weekend, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference. On Sunday, the Japanese National Institute of Infectious Diseases announced that it had discovered a new variant of the coronavirus in four travelers arriving from Brazil.

The variant appears to have some of the same mutations as other strains discovered in the UK and South Africa, according to the institute. While these virus mutations are highly contagious, people don’t seem to get the virus, according to health experts.

Japan’s Infectious Diseases Institute said it was difficult to immediately determine how contagious the new strain is and how effective vaccines are against it.

As viruses spread, they are expected to mutate over time as the peaks on their surfaces change, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the CDC warns that it is not yet known how widespread the new mutations are.

“The further the virus spreads, the higher the likelihood of new changes in the virus,” Tedros said at WHO headquarters in Geneva, noting that the new variants appear to be more contagious than previous strains.

‘This can lead to an increase in cases and hospitalizations, which is extremely problematic for health professionals and hospitals already near the breaking point, especially when public health and social health policies have already collapsed are, “said Tedros.

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