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While the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccine wanes over time, a booster shot was shown to elicit an immune response similar to the protection generated after a second dose, Pfizer said.
The company and its partner on the Covid vaccine, BioNTech, are seeking the agency’s OK to distribute booster doses to people 16 and older across the U.S.
The FDA released the data as the agency faces pressure from the Biden administration to authorize booster shots for the general population as early as next week.A third dose of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine six months after a second shot restores protection from infection to 95% in a real-world setting in Israel, according to data submitted by the company to the Food and Drug Administration.
While the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccine wanes over time, a booster shot was shown to elicit an immune response similar to the protection generated after a second dose, Pfizer said in a 52-page presentation released by the agency Wednesday.Pfizer said data from Israel’s Covid vaccination program administering boosters to the entire population show that a third shot “has a reactogenicity profile similar to that seen after receipt of the second primary series dose and restores high levels of protection against Covid-19 outcomes (back to approximately 95% protection).” The data was collected from July 1 through Aug. 30 when the delta variant was surging throughout the country.
CNBC Health & Science
The FDA released the data as the agency faces pressure from the Biden administration to authorize booster shots for the general population as early as next week. But agency staff declined to take a stance on the need for a third shot, citing the lack of verified data in a 23-page report released later Wednesday.
The staff said it’s reviewing other “potentially relevant” studies on waning immunity from Pfizer’s vaccine, but the studies have produced mixed results and some of that data may be more reliable than others. The Israeli data came from an observational study, which doesn’t adhere to the same standards of a formal clinical trial.“It should be recognized that while observational studies can enable understanding of real-world effectiveness, there are known and unknown biases that can affect their reliability. Due to these biases some studies may be more reliable than others,” the FDA staff wrote in their analysis.
Pfizer’s report is meant to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which meets Friday to review the request by Pfizer and its coronavirus vaccine partner, BioNTech, to approve Covid booster doses for the general public. The documents published offer a glimpse of the FDA’s view on third shots.Based on the data, Pfizer said it “is requesting licensure of a booster dose of [the Pfizer vaccine] administered intramuscularly approximately 6 months after dose 2 in individuals greater than 16 years of age.”
The company also included data from a Phase 3 trial of about 300 people aged 19 to 55. One-third of participants were overweight and one-third were obese, according to the documents.
Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking the agency’s OK to distribute booster doses to people 16 and older across the U.S.WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More
Marin Tomas | Moment | Getty ImagesThe number of electric cars, buses, vans and heavy trucks on roads is expected to hit 145 million by 2030, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.According to the IEA’s Global Electric Vehicle Outlook, if governments ramp up their efforts to meet international energy and climate goals, the global electric vehicle fleet could increase further still, hitting 230 million by the end of the decade. Both of these projections exclude two- and three-wheeled electric vehicles. The Paris-based organization said roughly three million new electric cars were registered last year, a record amount and a 41% rise compared to 2019.This jump pushed the total number of electric cars on the road to over 10 million, a figure supplemented by approximately 1 million electric buses, vans and heavy trucks.The rise in electric car sales in 2020 came even as the worldwide automobile market contracted by 16% due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. In the first quarter of 2021, electric car sales were almost two and a half times higher than during the same period in 2020.”While they can’t do the job alone, electric vehicles have an indispensable role to play in reaching net-zero emissions worldwide,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said in a statement.”Current sales trends are very encouraging, but our shared climate and energy goals call for even faster market uptake,” he added.Birol urged governments to use Covid economic recovery packages to “invest in battery manufacturing and the development of widespread and reliable charging infrastructure.”The IEA said consumer spending on electric cars in 2020 totaled $120 billion, a 50% increase compared to 2019, with government support measures designed to encourage electric vehicle take-up coming in at $14 billion.With regards to the latter figure, the IEA said it was “the fifth year in a row in which they have fallen as a share of total spending.” “Even if government subsidies remain important for spurring the uptake of electric vehicles, this suggests sales are increasingly being driven more by consumer choice,” it added.Taking on TeslaAround the world, authorities are looking to increase the number of low- and zero-emission vehicles on their roads in a bid to tackle air pollution and move away from the internal combustion engine.The U.K., for example, has announced plans to stop selling new diesel and petrol (gasoline) cars and vans from 2030.The European Commission’s “Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy,” meanwhile, wants at least 30 million zero-emission cars on the road by 2030.Faced with these targets, major carmakers are looking to increase their electric vehicle offering and challenge Elon Musk’s Tesla.Last month, German automotive giant Volkswagen announced plans to establish six “gigafactories” — which the firm says will be able to manufacture battery cells with a combined energy value of 240 gigawatt hours each year — in Europe by the end of the decade. It also pledged to expand its charging infrastructure in Europe, North America and China.March also saw the Volkswagen Group’s CEO, Herbert Diess, dismiss the notion that his firm could join forces with Tesla, telling CNBC that the German automotive giant was looking to go its own way.Speaking to “Squawk Box Europe”, Diess was asked if he would rule out any future deal with Musk’s electric car maker, in which VW could manufacture its cars, or if the Tesla and VW brands would ever unite.”No, we haven’t considered (that), we are going our own way,” he replied. “We want to get close and then overtake.””We think that we can – we need our own software stack, our own technology,” he added. “And also, I think Tesla, or Elon, is very much thinking … (about) his way forward. So no, there are no talks between Elon Musk and myself regarding joining forces.” More
A view of the Exxon Mobil refinery in Baytown, Texas.
Jessica Rinaldi | ReutersExxon Mobil’s revenue jumped more than 80% year over year during the fourth quarter amid a rebound in oil and gas prices, the company said Tuesday. With Exxon now in a stronger financial position, the company said it will begin to buy back stock during the first quarter.
The oil giant earned $2.05 per share during the period excluding items, ahead of the $1.93 that analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting. Revenue came in at $84.97 billion, which was short of the $91.85 billion analysts were expecting.In the same quarter one year ago the company earned 3 cents per share excluding items on sales of $46.54 billion. During the third quarter of 2021 the company earned $1.58 per share on an adjusted basis, on sales of $73.79 billion.
In the latest quarter Exxon generated $48 billion of cash flow from operating activities, which was the highest since 2012. The company also paid down an additional $9 billion in debt during the fourth quarter, reducing debt by $20 billion over the course of full-year 2021. Exxon’s debt level is now back to pre-pandemic levels.
The company said it will begin buying back stock during the first quarter of 2022, as part of a previously announced plan to repurchase up to $10 billion over the next 12 to 24 months.
On Monday the company announced that it’s restructuring its business into three divisions, and also moving its headquarters to Houston from Irving, Texas. Beginning April 1 the company’s three divisions will be: Upstream, production solutions and low-carbon solutions. The company said the streamlined operations will enhance effectiveness and reduce costs.
“Our new streamlined business structure is another example of the actions we are taking to further strengthen our competitive advantages and grow shareholder value,” Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in a statement Tuesday. “We’ve made great progress in 2021 and our forward plans position us to lead in cash flow and earnings growth, operating performance, and the energy transition.”Shares of Exxon rose to the highest level since Since 2019 on Monday, and are up 69% over the last year.
Exxon’s benefitted from the recovery in oil and gas prices. Crude is trading around its highest level in more than seven years, and on Friday international benchmark Brent crude settled above $90 for the first time since October 2014.
Exxon said it spent $16.6 billion during the full year 2021, which was in line with guidance. For 2022, the company expects to spend between $21 billion and $24 billion.
Shares of Exxon advanced 2% during premarket trading Tuesday.WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More
Umpires check the hat and glove of Trevor Bauer #27 of the Los Angeles Dodgers for foreign substances after the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on June 28, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.Meg Oliphant | Getty ImagesLos Angeles Dodgers superstar pitcher Trevor Bauer on Friday was placed on a weeklong administrative leave by Major League Baseball amid a criminal investigation of claims that Bauer sexually assaulted a woman in brutal incidents.Bauer’s forced leave was announced on the same day President Joe Biden hosted the Dodgers at the White House to mark their World Series win last fall. Bauer did not attend that event.Bauer, who won the 2020 National League Cy Young Award while playing for the Cincinnati Reds, in February agreed to a three-year contract with the Dodgers that could pay him a total of $102 million, making him one of the highest-paid baseball players.The 30-year-old, who next had been scheduled to pitch Sunday in Washington against the Nationals, has not been criminally charged in the incidents, which allegedly occurred in April and May. But he is under criminal investigation by police in California, who launched a probe in mid-May.Bauer also is the subject of a temporary domestic violence restraining order filed Tuesday by his 27-year-old accuser. A representative for the accuser’s attorney declined to comment.Major League Baseball said in a statement that its investigation of allegations made against Bauer by the woman is “ongoing.””While no determination in the case has been made, we have made the decision to place Mr. Bauer on seven-day administrative leave effective immediately,” MLB said in the statement.”MLB continues to collect information in our ongoing investigation concurrent with the Pasadena Police Department’s active criminal investigation. We will comment further at the appropriate time.”US President Joe Biden holds up a Los Angeles Dodgers team baseball jersey as he welcomes the 2020 World Series Champions during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on July 2, 2021.Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty ImagesBauer’s agents, in a statement obtained by The Athletic reporter Ken Rosenthal, said, “We affirm our original statement and refute [the woman’s] allegations in the strongest possible terms.””Mr. Bauer will not appeal MLB’s decision to place him on administrative leave at this time in an effort to minimize any distraction to the Dodgers organization and to his teammates,” the statement said.”Of note, administrative leave is neither a disciplinary action nor does it in any way reflect a finding in the league’s investigation.”A Dodgers spokesman told KNBC-TV, “I don’t believe the administrative leave can be appealed.””It allows MLB time to investigate without imposing discipline,” said the spokesman, adding that disciplinary action can be appealed.The announcement came a day after Sports Illustrated published an article online with the headline: “Trevor Bauer Must Not Start Sunday.”The article blasted the Dodgers and MLB for “cowardice” in not having placed Bauer on leave despite the “sickening” allegations against him.Bauer’s accuser said in her application for the restraining order that he choked her until she lost consciousness during two sexual encounters, and during one of the encounters repeatedly punched her in the face and genitals, injuring her so badly that she was hospitalized.She also alleges he engaged in sexual conduct that she had not agreed to during one of the encounters.Bauer’s co-agent, Jon Fetterolf, has previously said that Bauer “had a brief and wholly consensual sexual relationship” with the woman that she initiated.”Her basis for filing a protection order is nonexistent, fraudulent, and deliberately omits key facts, information, and her own relevant communications,” Fetterolf told NBC News.Bauer, whose major league debut came in 2012, has appeared in 17 games this season. He has a record of 8-5, and an earned run average of 2.59.— CNBC’s Jessica Golden and Jabari Young contributed to this report. More
A high-tech development zone in the city of Wuhan has been abuzz since March, when the local government announced the creation of a 10bn-yuan ($1.5bn) investment vehicle. The Optics Valley Hi-Tech Venture Capital Guidance Fund aims to combine the animal spirits of private capital with the industrial objectives of the state. Its general manager, Li Yang, told state media in late May that more than 80 private investors had submitted formal proposals. Ten of these are already in the process of being approved. State cash is pulsing through China’s private-capital markets. Between 2015 and 2021 around 2,000 so-called “government guidance funds” collectively raised almost $1trn. Although the pace of fundraising has slowed since peaking in 2016, not least to let the vehicles deploy their copious dry powder, the government’s role has been entrenched. Last year the state (including local governments) accounted for a third of all capital raised in Chinese limited partnerships, making it by far the country’s biggest source of venture capital (vc) and private equity in the country (see chart 1). According to Bain, a consultancy, most big Chinese funds that completed fundraising rounds in 2021 were government-led. The Enterprises Reform Fund raised nearly $11bn; the National Green Development Fund brought in $13bn. Provinces set up 20 such vehicles last year, marshalling about 136bn yuan all told, four and a half times as much as they raised in 2020, according to Zero2ipo, a research firm. Cities and other local governments chipped in more (see chart 2).The dual aim of guidance funds is to counter the “disorderly expansion of capital” (Communist Party speak for China’s consumer-internet industry getting too big for its boots) and to fulfil President Xi Jinping’s desire for home-grown innovations in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence (ai), biotechnology and advanced manufacturing, notably of chips. On paper, combining patient capital from the state with the animal spirits and market savvy of private investors allows the guidance funds to avoid the pitfalls of conventional industrial policy. By the government’s own reckoning, failure to mobilise private capital would make the funds into just another state subsidy. In practice, the role of the private sector is fuzzy and constricted. As a result, many of the vehicles resemble old-school handouts, complete with oodles of waste and cronyism. And they bring fresh problems. Guidance funds are strange beasts. In a conventional vc or buy-out fund its originator acts as the general partner tasked with deploying the capital. A guidance fund, by contrast, often creates sub-funds in which it is a limited partner, and invites professional asset managers to be the general partner calling the shots. To limit the fund’s sway over the general partner’s investment decisions—and thus government meddling in where the money goes—many funds have rules dictating the maximum size of their investments. The Optics Valley fund’s stake in any one of its sub-funds must not exceed 25%, for example, and it can funnel no more than 100m yuan to any one of these sub-funds. In some cases these rules appear to work well enough. Shanghai Angel Guide Venture Capital, a 10bn-yuan vehicle originally launched in 2014, has created more than 65 sub-funds that invest small amounts in minority stakes at early-stage companies in partnership with non-state investors. A review by The Economist of a sample of 20 of these sub-funds shows that their general partners and most of their remaining limited partners are indeed private-sector funds. Judging by publicly available profiles, individual executives in charge of the sub-funds on behalf of the general partners have professional experience in investment.Beyond China’s largest cities, though, the situation is likely to look less like Shanghai and more like Shandong. In 2018 the eastern province set up the New Growth Drivers Fund. Since then the vehicle has launched more than 270 sub-funds and its cash has found its way into at least 1,000 provincial companies. Our analysis of 50 of these sub-funds reveals that about half are dominated by state capital with little private-sector co-investment. Instead, many of the other limited partners are other guidance funds, state-run firms or other government-linked entities. The people charged with managing these sub-funds also appear to have much less market experience than their counterparts in Shanghai.The Shandong example suggests that at least in some cases state cash is crowding out private capital rather than co-opting it. One reason is the sheer number of government investors seeking to deploy capital. By 2019 there were more than 1,300 city and district guidance funds. One city in central China has at least ten of them, according to the Centre for Security and Emerging Technology, an American think-tank. With all the government money sloshing around, private investors have fewer places to park their capital.The structure of the sub-funds, meanwhile, reduces their appeal to private investors. Many lock up capital for up to ten years, in line with Mr Xi’s exhortation to think long-term, but twice too long for the typical private limited partner. State guidelines for recognising investment losses are often stricter than venture capitalists or private-equity managers would like, and less patient towards struggling firms that could be tided over. Perhaps most frustrating, one lawyer notes, if a guidance fund with a small minority stake in a sub-fund decides to pull out, its preferential terms will cause the dissolution of the entire vehicle, leaving both the portfolio firms and private investors out to dry. The flood of state cash is leading to other distortions, too. One is to inflate company valuations. An analysis by The Economist of company ownership records shows that of the 56 unicorns based in six central and eastern provinces, 32 have received state funding. Some of them belong to the herd of consumer-internet darlings whose prospects—and therefore worth—have been dented by Mr Xi’s heavy hand. The local officials in charge of these investments have little incentive to recognise those losses, whatever their funds’ guidelines say. Frothy valuations are also a problem for the sort of startup Mr Xi approves of. Buy-out barons report that hot industries such as chipmaking and ai have absorbed record levels of guidance capital in the past two years. The resulting bubbliness in the market has made it even tougher to pick out the real innovators from a sea of wannabes, notes Scott Kennedy of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank in Washington. This problem is exacerbated by another, perhaps even more consequential distortion. Venture capital has traditionally plugged young firms into a network of talent and potential business partners. Guidance funds give them direct links to state-owned companies and other government bodies that can fast-track applications and help with regulatory problems. Both startups and private co-investors are therefore highly motivated to connect with government funds, says Catherine Chen of Zhong Lun, a law firm in Beijing. As Mr Xi’s state capitalism becomes more statist and less capitalist, such connections can make or break fledgling firms. This in turn gives startups and their private backers an incentive to curry favour with the government first and commercialise actual breakthroughs a distant second. Having for years tailored their business to qualify for local subsidies, cheap credit and land, young Chinese companies are now doing the same to attract guidance funds. They and their private backers often enlist former government officials to help them navigate the new vc bureaucracy. One prominent venture capitalist admits that his vc firm now bets not so much on the next big thing as on the next sector in line for handouts. This makes perfect investment sense in today’s China. It is not exactly a recipe for technological progress. ■ More
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