
Bayer increases Roundup litigation provisions by $1.37 billion
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Reuters
19 minutes ago
- Reuters
Novo Nordisk expands lawsuits against weight-loss drug compounders
Aug 5 (Reuters) - Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk ( opens new tab said on Tuesday it has filed 14 new lawsuits in the United States against the sale of unapproved versions of semaglutide, the main ingredient in its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs, Wegovy and Ozempic. The new lawsuits target pharmacies and telehealth companies producing compounded versions of semaglutide "under the fake guise of personalization", Novo said, without naming the companies. Shares of major telehealth firm Hims & Hers (HIMS.N), opens new tab extended losses to fall nearly 13% in afternoon trade. It had earlier reported weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue. A Reuters search of legal filings found some cases filed by Novo in California dated Aug. 4 but none regarding San Francisco-based Hims. Hims was not immediately available for comment. Compounders copy brand-name medicines that are in short supply by combining, mixing or altering drug ingredients to meet demand. These companies were briefly allowed to produce hundreds of thousands of compounded doses of Novo's obesity and diabetes drugs when the Food and Drug Administration said they were in short supply. When the agency later banned the sale of these copies, Hims and Hers shifted to creating versions of semaglutide in personalized doses not accessible through the branded manufacturers. Novo's lawsuits allege that telehealth providers violate state corporate practice of medicine laws by improperly influencing doctors' decisions and steering patients toward knockoff compounded "semaglutide" under the guise of personalized medicine. In reality, these are knockoffs that have not been approved as safe and effective and are often made with illicit foreign active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), Novo said. It did not immediately respond to a Reuters query on which companies were being named in the lawsuit.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Banco BPM profit beats forecasts with Anima boost after UniCredit walks away
MILAN, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Banco BPM ( opens new tab on Tuesday beat profit expectations helped by fees earned through newly acquired fund manager Anima Holding, and confirmed the full-year outlook after staving off a takeover by larger peer UniCredit ( opens new tab. Banco BPM became a takeover target for UniCredit in November, soon after acquiring a stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab - stoking speculation about an eventual tie-up with the state-backed rival. The UniCredit bid, which collapsed last month after running into government opposition, is one of a dozen takeover offers reshaping Italian finance. Asked about Banco BPM's future M&A moves, CEO Giuseppe Castagna said his bank owned 9% of Monte dei Paschi (MPS), which could "show the way" forward but, in any case, it had to see first how MPS' current bid for Mediobanca ( opens new tab turned out. After UniCredit swooped on BPM, MPS launched an offer to acquire merchant bank Mediobanca which ends on Sept. 8. "We'll see what happens to MPS after the Mediobanca deal," Castagna said. Earnings for the three months through June are the first set of figures to include Anima, which Banco BPM managed to buy as it strived to fend off UniCredit. Second-quarter net profit stood at 704 million euros ($815 million), up from 380 million a year earlier and above an LSEG consensus estimate of 646 million euros. Revenues met expectations at 1.55 billion euros with a 9.6% rise in fees which more than offset a 3.9% decline in net interest income amid lower interest rates. The bank, which has long attracted takeover interest due to its roots in Italy's wealthy north, confirmed its full year net profit would be well 1.95 billion euros. Banco BPM's main shareholder is Credit Agricole ( opens new tab, a long-standing commercial partner. The French bank, which invested in BPM in 2022 to help its defence against UniCredit, recently bought derivatives to raise its holding to 20.1% and book a portion of BPM's earnings into its own accounts. The core capital ratio stood at 13.3% at the end of June, hit by Anima's acquisition but above BPM's 13% target, partly thanks to risk-transfer securitisation deals.($1 = 0.8639 euros)


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Report: Putin could end aerial bombardment of Ukraine to avoid Trump sanctions
Russia is considering ending its aerial bombardment of Ukraine to avoid US trade sanctions on Friday, according to reports. The Kremlin would continue waging the conflict but would desist from rocket attacks on Ukraine's cities which serve no military purpose. This would be the first concession granted by Russia since the conflict began three and a half years ago, it if transpires. The Russian plot was reported by Bloomberg last night as US peace envoy Steve Witkoff was expected to travel to Moscow for talks. He is expected to hold urgent discussions with senior Kremlin officials today [Wednesday] in a bid to bring Russia to the negotiating table. Russia could face economic sanctions from Friday, affecting itself and trading partners such as China and India, unless Vladimir Putin agrees to talks. President Trump initially gave President Putin 50 days to strike a peace deal then cut the time to '10 to 12 days'. Ahead of the deadline, Russia has pulled out of a nuclear missile agreement intended to limit numbers of short to medium range missiles in Europe. Witkoff has been criticised for the tone of his previous visits to Russia. At times he has appeared fawning in Putin's presence and has failed to secure any concessions. After one meeting earlier this year, Putin presented Witkoff with a portrait of President Trump to take back to the White House. Yesterday afternoon [Tues], Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on social media he has spoken President Trump. But he did not mention the deadline. President Zelensky described their conversation as 'productive' with the 'key focus of course being ending the war'. He added Ukraine and the United States have 'coordinated our positions' while the Russians have 'intensified the brutality of their attacks'. President Trump's plan is to hit Russia with 'secondary tariffs' in a bid to end the war. These will punish states that purchase Russian energy supplies, making it more expensive for these countries to sell goods into the United States. As a major importer of Russian oil, India is particularly vulnerable. Its government has protested the unfairness of the strategy, claiming India's critics also import Russian goods. Trump has accused of India of 'fueling [Russia's] war machine'. India has called the 100 per cent secondary tariffs 'unjustified and unreasonable'. Ukraine claimed earlier this week that it has found Indian-made components inside Russian attack drones fired at its cities. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also said to be personally close to Putin. They appear to share a warm relationship and are economic allies. Putin is widely expected to ignore Trump's deadline. While the US President has repeatedly excused Putin's failure to agree peace terms. But with President Trump under pressure in the US over his connections to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, he may adopt a tougher stance towards Putin. President Trump signalled his intent last week by publicly stating he had repositioned a pair of US nuclear submarines closer to Russia to keep the Kremlin in check. Russia responded strongly declaring it was pulling out of a nuclear missile agreement due to 'destabilising actions' by Western powers.