Vaxart Joins With Emergent To Advance Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (EBS) has entered into an agreement with Vaxart, Inc. (VXRT), under which Emergent has agreed to utilize its molecule-to-market contract development and manufacturing services to develop and manufacture Vaxart’s experimental oral vaccine candidate for COVID-19. Emergent agreed to produce clinical material expected to enable Vaxart to initiate a Phase 1 clinical study anticipated early in the second half of 2020.

Emergent will provide development services out of its Gaithersburg, Md. location and manufacture drug substance at its Bayview facility in Baltimore, Md.

U.S. Business Inventories Show Modest Decrease In January

A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed a modest decrease in business inventories in the U.S. in the month of January.

The Commerce Department said business inventories edged down by 0.1 percent in January after coming in unchanged in December. The slight drop in inventories matched economist estimates.

The modest decrease in business inventories was partly due to a continued decline in wholesale inventories, which fell by 0.4 percent in January after slipping by 0.3 percent in December.

Manufacturing inventories also dipped by 0.1 percent in January after climbing by 0.4 percent in December, while retail inventories were unchanged after edging down by 0.1 percent in the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said business sales climbed by 0.6 percent in January after inching up by 0.1 percent in December.

Wholesale sales led the way higher, spiking by 1.6 percent during the month, while retail sales also increased by 0.6 percent.

On the other hand, the Commerce Department said manufacturing sales fell by 0.5 percent in January after rising by 0.5 percent in December.

With inventories edging lower and sales climbing, the total business inventories/sales ratio slipped to 1.38 in January from 1.39 in December.

Rheinmetall AG Issues 2020 Outlook – Quick Facts

Rheinmetall AG (RNMBF.PK) said, for 2020 before effects of corona developments, the Group projects operating margin of approximately 7%. Automotive expects an operating margin of approximately 5%, while Defence projects sales growth of between 5% and 7% and a margin of between 9% and 10%.

Rheinmetall said it will monitor the potential impact due to global spread of coronavirus and adjust the annual forecasts if and when necessary.

The Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose increasing the dividend to 2.40 euros per share at the Annual General Meeting on May 5, 2020.

Tencent Q4 Profit Increases 29% – Quick Facts

Chinese Internet services provider Tencent Holdings Ltd. (TCEHY.PK) reported Wednesday that non-IFRS profit attributable to equity holders of the company for the fourth quarter was RMB 25.48 billion or $3.65 billion, an increase of 29 percent from last year. Earnings per share were RMB 2.643.

Operating profit was RMB 30.31 billion or $4.34 billion, an increase of 35 percent from the prior year.

Total revenues for the quarter increased 25 percent to RMB 105.77 billion or $15.16 billion from the same quarter last year.

General Mills Q3 adjusted earnings Beat Estimates

Below are the earnings highlights for General Mills (GIS):

-Earnings: $454.1 million in Q3 vs. $446.8 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: $0.74 in Q3 vs. $0.74 in the same period last year.
-Analysts projected $0.76 per share
-Revenue: $4.18 billion in Q3 vs. $4.20 billion in the same period last year.

Trump Adviser Paula White Wants Money For Her Fake Coronavirus ‘Hospital’

Paula White, the evangelical pastor and spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump, says her ministry is like a hospital and is asking people to send her money for it. 

Except it’s not a real hospital. 

“We are a hospital to the sick,” White said over piano music during an online coronavirus prayer session, quickly adding that it’s for “not necessarily the physically sick.” 

“We are a hospital for those who are soul-sick, those who are spiritually sick,” she said. 

White, who leads Trump’s Faith and Opportunity Initiative, then asked followers for “seed” money. For those who espouse the so-called prosperity gospel, that typically means giving money in the belief that some form of larger prosperity will then be returned to the giver.

“Maybe you’d like to send a $91 seed, and that’s just putting your faith with Psalm 91,” she said. That psalm refers to being saved from “deadly pestilence” and “plague.” 

White also suggested sending $9 or “whatever God tells you to do,” adding: “Don’t forget, now is not the time to abandon your covenant with God. It’s a time that you go deeper. Stand with your pastor.” 

The clip was posted online by the Friendly Atheist blog:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CIA_laCV9PU

Katrina Commander Rips Trump’s ‘Slow And Not Decisive’ Coronavirus Response

The Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been slammed as “slow and not decisive” by the retired lieutenant general who righted the initially dismal federal recovery effort following Hurricane Katrina.

“It’s hard to get the speed you need to save lives if you’re slow at making decisions and you’re not decisive,” Russel Honoré said Tuesday on MSNBC.

Honoré acknowledged “we are facing an invisible enemy” with the virus, which has now sickened almost 200,000 people worldwide, and said “we’re not quite sure how bad it is, so in that regard, the things they have to do is going to be a little bit harder.”

But he then questioned why members of President Donald Trump’s government ― who have faced widespread criticism over its haphazard handling of the crisis ― had not been using models “we’ve been having for years that would show from day one, patient number one out in Washington, in 30 days, the projected number of people that might be infected.”

“They also could have done better and can do better,” added Honoré, who in 2017 famously swore on live TV while criticizing the Trump White House’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Check out the clip here: