PHARMACEUTICALS
Glaxo mulls new vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline PLC is considering whether to develop a new vaccine against a sexually transmitted infection that is threatening to become unstoppable. The company is in discussions with regulators about how the label on Bexsero, its vaccine that prevents a form of meningitis, could be expanded to include gonorrhea, an age-old disease that is becoming more difficult to treat, said Emmanuel Hanon, head of research and development at Glaxo’s vaccine unit. The UK drugmaker is also looking at the possibility of developing a vaccine targeted specifically against gonorrhea, he said.
EUROPEAN UNION
ECB too male-heavy
The European Central Bank (ECB) should bring more women into leadership jobs to improve gender balance, the only female member of the powerful institution’s board said. “I’m convinced that diversity in management positions is an intelligent idea to pursue,” Sabine Lautenschlaeger said. Lautenschlaeger’s appeal follows the ECB’s vote early this month in favor of a male candidate, Italy’s Andrea Enria, to succeed banking supervision chief Daniele Nouy from next year.
FINANCE
Goldman must boost controls
Goldman Sachs Group Inc was told by regulators to tighten its risk oversight and increase reports of internal debates about deals just after the bank completed US$6.5 billion of bond financing for Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd, the Financial Times reported. Goldman implemented changes to the internal committees that oversee how its operations work, under pressure from the New York Federal Reserve, the newspaper said. The reforms were agreed upon in 2013 after the US Federal Reserve pressed Goldman to be more transparent, but were not publicly disclosed, it reported.
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Bitcoin tumble continues
Bitcoin’s tumble worsened over the weekend, putting last year’s crash within striking distance of the cryptocurrency’s worst bear markets. The virtual currency fell as low as US$3,475 on Sunday, Bitstamp prices showed. The crash, which also ensnared rival coins such as Ether and XRP, has entered the same league as bitcoin’s 93 percent plunge in 2011 and its 84 percent rout from 2013 to 2015, during the collapse of bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox.
SINGAPORE
Firm’s troubles affect bonds
An investigation into troubled Indonesian property developer PT Lippo Karawaci, controlled by the Southeast Asian billionaire Riady family, is reverberating in the bond market. Singaporean dollar-denominated notes issued by First Real Estate Investment Trust and those sold by OUE Ltd, which is controlled by the family, have dropped as a liquidity crunch prompts concern that the group is using other entities to help shore up finances.
ELECTRONICS
Justices hear Apple defense
Apple Inc is at the US Supreme Court to defend the way that it sells apps for iPhones against claims by consumers that the company has unfairly monopolized the market. The justices heard arguments yesterday in Apple’s effort to end an antitrust lawsuit that could force the iPhone maker to cut the 30 percent commission it charges software developers whose apps are sold exclusively through Apple’s App Store. A judgement could triple the compensation to consumers under antitrust law if Apple loses.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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