BioNTech to build mRNA manufacturing site in Singapore - Yahoo Tech

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BioNTech Chooses Singapore; Delhi Extends Lockdown: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- BioNTech SE selected Singapore as its Southeast Asia headquarters and could have an operational Covid-19 vaccine production facility in the city by 2023.Earlier, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. said it will set up a joint venture with BioNTech, a sign that the highly effective inoculation is moving closer to getting approved for general use in China.The U.K. confirmed plans to allow indoor mixing from May 17, while the Czech Republic opened all shops, museums and galleries on Monday. India’s capital New Delhi extended its lockdown for another week amid a deadly wave of infections.Key DevelopmentsGlobal Tracker: Cases reach 158.3 million; deaths exceed 3.29 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 1.29 billion doses have been givenUnused shots pile up as mistrust blights Hong Kong vaccine drivePentagon presses on with Covid plan to speed cash to contractorsTokyo gives a taste of what Covid era Olympic games will be likeSubscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on cases and deaths.Norway Won’t Use Astra, J&J Vaccines (4:32 p.m. HK)A Norwegian expert committee recommended that AstraZeneca’s and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines shouldn’t be included in the country’s inoculation program, but were open to making them available on a voluntary basis.The government last month ordered the committee to examine the consequences of not including the vaccines after the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said Astra’s shot shouldn’t be used due to its connection to “rare and serious incidents of low platelets, blood clots and bleeding.”The NIPH on Monday advised against adding the J&J vaccine to the program as the situation stands now. That will delay the first dose by up to two weeks in the 18 to 44 age group, it said.Germany to Hit Milestone, Backs J&J Shot (4:30 p.m. HK)Germany expects to confirm on Monday that one-third of its population have had at least one vaccine shot, Health Minister Jens Spahn told reporters in Berlin.Despite concerns about side effects, Europe’s largest economy will offer J&J’s shot to all adults, and for younger people with medical advice. Spahn said the vaccine -- the only one approved in the European Union that offers full protection with a single dose -- is an especially useful tool for the homeless and in refugee facilities.Germany had administered 17,933 doses of the J&J shot as of Friday, according to the Robert Koch Institute public health agency, and had received 256,800 doses.Czechs Reopen as Infections Ease (4:21 p.m. HK)The Czech Republic opened all shops, museum and galleries as of Monday as the pandemic continued to ease. The country reported 381 new cases in 24 hours through Sunday, the lowest since the end of August. The nation of 10.7 million had 1,819 hospitalized patients as of Monday, according to health ministry data.Vaccine Proof Key, Israel Ambassador Says (3:34 p.m. HK)Israel’s “Green Pass” was key to the highly inoculated country’s economic reopening, according to the country’s ambassador to Singapore. Critics say the pass infringes on civil liberties, an argument Sagi Karni called “nonsense.”“You want to open the economy, you want to open up safely, and as a state you offer vaccination to all,” Karni said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “So why not have a certificate? Otherwise how do you know? It’s complicated, but it gives the whole system a way to move forward.”Testing, Vaccine Rollout Slow in India (3:25 pm. HK)India is testing and vaccinating its citizens at a lower rate compared with recent months, Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, wrote on Twitter.Cases have risen 3.6 times in the last month and deaths 6.3 times, while testing has increased only 1.5 times and daily vaccine doses fallen 38%, Mukherjee said.The data show that “we are losing momentum in fighting the virus,” said Rijo M. John, a Kerala-based economist and public health policy analyst who consults for the World Health Organization.Romania Stages Vaccination Marathon (3:01 p.m. HK)Romania organized a vaccination marathon during the weekend in Bucharest. More than 20,000 people were inoculated in two days, double the initial target set by the authorities. The country plans to have 5 million people vaccinated by the end of the month.Taiwan Tightens Rules for China Airlines Crew (2:51 p.m. HK)Taiwan’s government will recall all flight-deck crew for quarantine, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said at a briefing in Taipei. Authorities lengthened quarantine for rear cabin crew who have been on long-haul flights or have come into contact with crew members deemed a Covid-19 risk. Air crew are allowed to exit quarantine after 14 days and if they test negative.U.K. Cyber Spies Detect Lockdown Scams (2:48 p.m. HK)Criminals launched more websites to trick people into giving up data, downloading malware and sending them money during 2020, taking advantage of pandemic lockdown by pretending to be celebrities, shops and government agencies.The U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre took down 700,595 malicious campaigns last year, 15-times more than a year earlier as the number of scams increased and it began targeting new types of fraud, the agency said in a report published on Monday.Japan, Chugai Agree on Supply of Regeneron (2:38 p.m. HK)Chugai says Japan has agreed to secure the cocktail of casirivimab and imdevimab, being evaluated as a potential treatment for Covid-19, for domestic use in 2021 if it’s approved by the Japanese regulatory authority. A Phase I clinical trial in Japan began in March of this year.Thailand Death Toll Tops 400 (2:07 p.m. HK)Deaths in Thailand from Covid-19 surpassed 400 on Monday. A 25-week pregnant Thai woman became the first person in the country to be diagnosed with the Indian variant of the virus.The nation’s Covid-19 panel will hold a meeting to discuss measures to tackle the Indian variant, according to Apisamai Srirangsan, a Covid-19 center spokeswoman. There were 1,630 new infections and 22 deaths, which took the total infections and fatalities to 85,005 and 421, respectively. More than half of the total infections and deaths are from a new outbreak which began in April.BioNTech to Build Vaccine Facility in Singapore (1:41 p.m. HK)The German vaccine developer selected the city-state as its Southeast Asia headquarters and first Asia-Pacific hub. BioNTech’s manufacturing site will support global supply of mRNA-based vaccines, the company said in a statement. The plan is a boon for Singapore’s long-term strategy to build out next-generation sectors of its economy, including biopharmaceuticals.Dubai Business Activity Improves (1:23 p.m. HK)Business activity in Dubai rose to the highest level since late 2019 after a rebound in tourism and a fast distribution of coronavirus vaccines.The private sector, excluding oil, grew for a fifth-straight month in April, according to IHS Markit. Its Purchasing Managers’ Index for the Middle East’s main business hub rose to 53.5 from 51 in March, staying above the 50-mark that separates growth from contraction and signaling significant economic expansion.India Daily Death Toll Dips Slightly (12:18 p.m. HK)India added 366,161 more cases Monday, lower than the approximately 400,000 infections reported Sunday. India also reported 3,754 deaths Monday, taking the total death toll in the country to 246,116. Numbers on Monday typically tend to be lower because of dips in testing across the country during the weekend.More than two-thirds of states are shut if assessed by their contribution to national output, analysts at Jefferies calculated last week. Tamil Nadu, which houses foreign manufacturers including BMW and Dell, will also close from Monday, while Delhi extended its lockdown for another week. The restrictions had been set to end Monday after being extended several times already.Singapore to Widen Testing (11:20 a.m. HK)Singapore will test thousands of people for Covid-19 as the number of infections unlinked to current virus clusters continued to rise over the weekend. An additional 10 Covid-19 cases were reported by the country’s health ministry late on Sunday. Separately, four individuals are connected to an earlier cluster at Changi Airport and three are related to the cluster at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.Read more here.IOC President to Visit Japan (10:47 a.m. HK)The International Olympic Committee is making arrangements for President Thomas Bach to travel to Japan in June, FNN reported, without saying where it got the information. Bach’s visit scheduled for May 17 has been canceled as a result of the extension of a state emergency covering Tokyo and other areas where the coronavirus outbreak is spreading.BioNTech’s China Venture (9:01 a.m. HK)Shanghai Fosun said on Sunday it will set up a 50:50 joint venture with BioNTech to produce mRNA Covid-19 vaccine in China. Both companies have committed up to $100 million investment through cash, production facilities and technologies. Fosun will set up a production facility capable of making 1 billion doses of the vaccine, according to the company’s filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.The Shanghai-based drug company struck a deal in March 2020 to license and develop the Covid shot in the Greater China region that includes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, while Pfizer Inc. later agreed to co-develop and commercialize it in the rest of the world. The vaccine is now being reviewed by Chinese drug regulator. Fosun Pharmaceutical shares rose as much as 23% in Hong Kong.Virus Causing Spread of Fungal Infection (8:05 a.m. HK)Coronavirus is causing the spread of a deadly fungal infection called mucormycosis across the western state of Maharashtra, the Times of India reported. Hospitals in Mumbai, which are treating dozens of such patients, are facing a shortage of anti-fungal medicines. The infection can also lead to blindness. The fungal infection usually sets in two to three weeks after treatment for covid and was mostly found in patients who already suffer from diabetes and then got affected by Covid-19.Bolsonaro Leads Mother’s Day Parade Maskless (7:02 a.m. HK)A maskless President Jair Bolsonaro led a Mother’s Day motorcycle parade on Sunday as Brazil added almost 39,000 Covid-19 cases. Deaths increased by 1,024 to 422,340 in the latest daily count, according to Health Ministry data.The ministry will begin distributing 1.12 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine Monday. The latest batch brings Brazil’s distribution to about 75.4 million doses and more than 46.8 million shots administered.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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