Company news in brief

BAT's vaccine candidate approvedA Covid-19 vaccine being developed by British American Tobacco from tobacco leaves has been approved for human trials by the US health regulator, the maker of Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarettes said yesterday.The enrolment for the study is expected to start shortly, with results likely by mid-2021, the company said.The world's No.2 cigarette company raised eyebrows in April when it said it was developing a Covid-19 vaccine and would be able to produce 1 million to 3 million doses a week if it had the support of government agencies and the right manufacturers.The approval for Phase 1 trials comes at a time when Britain and the United States have started rolling out vaccines made by Pfizer and German drug company BioNTech over the past two weeks.The Covid-19 vaccine is being developed by BAT's biotech arm Kentucky BioProcessing. – Nampa/ReutersEli Lilly to buy PrevailDrugmaker Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday it would spend about US$1 billion to buy Prevail Therapeutics Inc to strengthen its presence in the lucrative field of gene therapy that is used to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.Lilly also forecast 2021 revenue above analysts' average estimates, helped by about US$1 billion to US$2 billion in sales of its Covid-19 treatments.Several of Prevail's therapies have been granted "fast track" and "orphan drug" tags by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Commission.The company's preclinical pipeline includes potential gene therapies for Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, the companies said.For 2021, Lilly expects revenue to be between US$26.5 billion and US$28 billion. Analysts on average were expecting 2021 sales of US$26.47 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. – Nampa/ReutersStarbucks suspends Happy HoursStarbucks Corp customers in the United States will have to pay the full US$5.65 for a second grande Eggnog Latte this holiday season, as the company suspends two-for-one deals due to overcrowding concerns amid a resurgence in coronavirus cases.Happy Hour events scheduled for Dec. 17 and Jan. 7 have been cancelled, according to an internal memo to employees posted inside stores. Last December, the world's largest coffee chain held the events each week, totalling four that month.Happy Hours helped lift Starbucks' slumping sales when the company re-introduced them in October 2018. Visits increased more than 11% during the events on average during the fourth quarter that calendar year, according to a January report from advertising platform inMarket.The events boost foot traffic during a normally slow time of day’s afternoons and evenings. But as the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States and Canada this year, Happy Hours in those markets also helped offset reduced visits during breakfast hours as people stopped commuting to work.Starbucks had suspended Happy Hour and Double-Star Days promotions in the US and Canada earlier this year as government restrictions shut dining rooms. It restarted the deals in June. – Nampa/ReutersGlencore expands satellite monitoringCommodities trader Glencore said on Tuesday it had entered into an agreement with satellite-based services provider Tre-Altamira to expand monitoring to over 110 of its dams worldwide, focused on its waste-disposal tailings storage.The London-listed company said the satellite monitoring would provide measurement of surface movements every 11 days and ensure continuous provision of information.Mining companies have faced global scrutiny of storing billions of tonnes of waste in tailings dams, some of which tower dozens of meters high and stretch for several kilometres, following the collapse of Vale SA's Brumadinho upstream tailings dam in 2019 that killed more than 250 people.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. – Nampa/ReutersHonda recalling 1.79 mln vehicles worldwideHonda Motor Co said on Tuesday it was recalling 1.79 million vehicles worldwide in four separate campaigns, including some linked to reported fires.The recalls cover 1.4 million vehicles in the United States.The Japanese automaker said one recall covers 268 000 2002-2006 model year CR-V vehicles in the United States to replace power window master switches. Honda said there had been no reported injuries, but 16 fires reported related to the issue.Honda is also recalling about 735 000 US 2018-2020 Accord, Accord Hybrid and 2019-2020 Insight vehicles to update the Body Control Module software. A programming flaw could disrupt communication causing illumination of several warning lights and malfunction of electronic components, it said, including "the rear view camera display, turn signals and windshield wipers."Honda is also issuing two recalls covering 430 000 US vehicles in 22 US states and the District of Columbia with significant road salt use to inspect and potentially replace front drive shafts. Both are in response to possible breakage of the drive shafts due to corrosion. – Nampa/Reuters

Company news in brief

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