The US drug regulator approved the use of a new drug for people hospitalised with Covid-19 on Thursday, adding to the list of treatments available for those seriously ill with the virus despite the mass availability of vaccines in the US.
The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorisation for Actemra, saying the intravenous infusion reduced the risk of death and cut the time a patient spent in hospital.
The monoclonal antibody treatment has been authorised for use in coronavirus patients aged older than 2 who are receiving oxygen or ventilation in hospital.
“Although vaccines have been successful in decreasing the number of patients with Covid-19 who require hospitalization, providing additional therapies for those who do become hospitalized is an important step in combating this pandemic,” Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said.
Actemra is made by the biotech company Genentech, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Roche.
FedEx revenues jump 30% as online shopping drives demand
FedEx’s quarterly revenues jumped in its most recent quarter, fuelled by ecommerce shipments and an economic recovery that bolstered demand for business-to-business shipping and international exports.
The logistics group experienced another quarter of stronger demand, with average daily package volume climbing 20 per cent year on year in the three months ended May 31. Average daily volume for US domestic packages rose 23 per cent, a sign that the ecommerce frenzy continued to drive up deliveries.
Consumers’ preference for shopping online during the pandemic has boosted revenues for FedEx and its rival UPS, which have raised prices and imposed surcharges to offset higher costs associated with the surge in demand.
“We expect continued strong momentum in fiscal 2022, and our investments are focused on the areas of greatest growth and highest returns, like e-commerce, to position us for sustained long-term growth in earnings, cash flows, and returns,” Michael Lenz, FedEx’s chief financial officer, said.
FedEx reported $22.6bn in revenue for its fourth fiscal quarter, up 30 per cent from $17.4bn a year ago and topping analysts’ forecast of $21.5bn.
Operating income from FedEx Express more than doubled year on year thanks to growth in international export and US domestic package services, the company said.
Its ground shipping business posted record earnings for the quarter, driven by strong growth in business-to-business shipments. FedEx said the results were partially offset by higher expenses related to constrained labour availability.
Overall, FedEx booked net income of $1.87bn, compared with a loss of $334m in the fourth quarter last year. It earned $5.01 a share on an adjusted basis, nearly doubling its profit from a year earlier and beating analysts’ estimate by two cents.
Shares in FedEx, which rose more than 2 per cent on Thursday, were down 4 per cent in after-hours trading.
Nike sales rebound on worldwide return to sports
Nike sales rebounded strongly in its most recent quarter from a pandemic-related slowdown, buoyed by a return to sports worldwide and the effects of shipping delays earlier this year.
The world’s largest sportswear maker by sales reported on Thursday that revenues during its fourth quarter had almost doubled from the same period in 2020, and were up 21 per cent from the comparable quarter in 2019.
Nike said its North American revenues, in particular, rebounded in the fourth quarter and included “increased wholesale revenue due to delayed shipments from the previous quarter.” Three months ago, Nike blamed a double-digit drop in North American revenues during the third quarter on a global shortage of shipping containers and congestion at US ports.
The Oregon-based company, in its first full fiscal year under the direction of chief executive John Donahoe, has pushed to restructure its operations around product categories for men, women, and children instead of by specific sports, such as running or basketball.
Nike has also accelerated its push to sell more items online rather than through partner retailers. The brand’s digital sales rose 41 per cent in the three months ended May 31, compared with the same period in 2020, and more than doubled from the comparable period in 2019.
Total revenues doubled to $12.3bn for the quarter, helping Nike swing to a $1.5bn profit, up from a $709m loss a year earlier at the nadir of pandemic effects. Shares rose nearly 5 per cent after hours to $140.
UK adds more countries to its travel ‘green list’
The British government has added Malta, Ibiza and several Caribbean countries among others to a list of places from which travellers will be exempt from quarantining upon arrival in England.
The move was accompanied by comments from Grant Shapps, transport secretary, that the UK intends to loosen travel quarantine restrictions for its fully vaccinated residents later this summer.
Malta, Madeira, Spain’s Balearic Islands, several UK overseas territories and Caribbean islands, including Barbados, will move to the “green list” at 4am on June 30, the government announced on Thursday evening. This means travellers from those places will not have to quarantine upon arrival in England.
The latest update from the government also included tighter restrictions for some destinations, with Haiti, Mongolia and Tunisia among the six countries to be moved to the red list. Arrivals in England from those places will be required to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.
Israel and Jerusalem were placed on the green watchlist, meaning they are at risk of being moved to the more restrictive amber group.
In a probable boost for travel-starved Britons, Shapps said that fully vaccinated UK residents may be subject to looser travel restrictions over summer.
“Thanks to our successful vaccination programme, our intention is that later in the summer UK residents who are fully vaccinated will not have to isolate when travelling from amber list countries,” he wrote in a message on Twitter.
Under current rules, people travelling to England from amber list countries or territories must meet several requirements including taking Covid-19 tests before and after arrival as well as quarantining at home for 10 days after arrival. These conditions apply, at present, even to fully vaccinated people.