Scientists Warn About New Hyper-Infectious South African Variant
Scientists in South Africa have identified a new variant that "has all of the signatures of immune escape" and very well could be the source of the next variant-driven wave of COVID cases around the world.
The variant, known a C.1.2 - it isn't important enough yet to deserve a Greek-letter shorthand - was first identified in May in the provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, where Johannesburg and SA's capital, Pretoria, are located. As of Aug. 13, the variant has been found in six of South Africa’s nine provinces as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, Portugal and Switzerland. Even New Zealand has reported a case of the variant in its most recent outbreak, per Bloomberg.
The most concerning thing about the new variant is that it possesses certain traits that might be "associated with increased transmissibility” and an increased ability to evade antibodies, the scientists said. “It is important to highlight this lineage given its concerning constellation of mutations.”
C.1.2. evolved from C.1., a lineage of the virus that dominated infections in the first wave of the virus in South Africa in mid-2020. It has between 44 and 59 mutations from the original virus detected in Wuhan in China, which is a surprisingly large number indicating advanced mutation.
The latest preprint research cited by Bloomberg was published by a team of South African groups including KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, known as Krisp, and the National Institute of Communicable Disease. In May, the C.1.2 variant accounted for 0.2% of the genomes sequenced in South Africa. That number rose to 1.6% in June and 2% in July.
"We are currently assessing the impact of this variant on antibody neutralization" in both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, the scientists said."It has only been detected in around 100 genomes, a very low number," he said. "It’s still a very small percentage, but again we are really keeping a good eye on that. It has all of the signatures of immune escape."
The results are expected within a week, Tulio de Oliveira, the director of Krisp, said at an immunology conference on Monday.
South African has already produced one major variant - the 'beta' variant - which spread widely in Europe, the UK, Asia and the US, though it has since been dwarfed by the spread of delta.
How much longer until Dr. Fauci joins in on the fear mongering? Or is he still preoccupied with warning about the threat of the Lambda variant.
Readers can find a preprint of the research attached :
Bunzl has £1bn acquisition war chest as Biden tax plans prompt US groups to sell
UK catering and cleaning products company has database of 1,000 small businesses it wants to buy
British catering and cleaning products manufacturer Bunzl is planning a spending spree backed by £1bn of available capital for businesses hit by the pandemic or wanting to sell up in the US because of President Joe Biden’s proposed tax increases.
Frank van Zanten, chief executive of the FTSE 100 group, said merger and acquisition targets had opened up after some businesses had suffered a “shocking experience” in the pandemic, while others in the US feared tax hikes.
The Biden administration has proposed a rise in capital gains tax, as well as an increase in corporate tax from 21 per cent to 28 per cent, to fund spending on childcare, education and infrastructure.
Zanten said the company had room to spend £1bn and was tracking a database of 1,000 small businesses it wanted to acquire.
He said “triggers” to sell included owners retiring or a family death, while the possibility of higher US taxes was convincing many small, family-owned distribution companies they needed to find buyers for their businesses.
“There was a lot of activity happening when Biden announced some possible tax changes. There are people who want to sell their business by the end of the year.”
He added: “When businesses return to 2019 levels, we see a lot of M&A activity coming toward us. It has been a shocking experience for a lot of people who thought their business was financially secure.”
So far this year, the business supplies distributor has spent £134m on eight acquisitions.
Zanten outlined the latest developments on the acquisition drive as the company announced it expected underlying revenue this year to be moderately higher than in 2019, before the pandemic.
Sales were boosted by a recovery in demand for its products used in offices, hotels and restaurants, offsetting a fall in sales of pandemic-related items such as masks, sanitisers and gloves in the first half of 2021.
Despite continuing demand for hygiene-related products, large government-related bodies are now buying less.
The company had been a huge beneficiary of the surge in sales and rising prices for personal protective equipment last year.
Statutory pre-tax profit increased to £276m in the six months to June 30, a 12.3 per cent rise compared with the first half of last year, while revenue inched up to £4.8bn.
Its reported profits were also hit between 6 per cent and 8 per cent by the appreciation of sterling against the dollar.
Shares in the group fell 4 per cent to £25.83 by early afternoon on Tuesday.
Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- ZM -12.5%, AMWD -7.1%, STNE -5.5%
Other news:
- BGS -2.7% (to sell its Portland, Maine manufacturing facility)
- BBBY -1.2% (Chief Brand Officer of Decorist steps down)
- RMBS -0.9% (demonstrates PCI Express 5.0 digital controller IP for FPGAs)
- PAR -0.7% (stock offering)
- AGL -0.7% (files for $100 mln common stock offering by selling shareholders)
Analyst comments:
- ZY -3% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS)
- GOL -0.8% (downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse)
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- RLGT +13.5%, DBI +8.6%, DAO +5.7%, AZRE +5%, NTES +2.5%, NDSN +1.8%, .
Other news:
- ACIU +58.8% (announces first positive cognitive results for a tau-targeting monoclonal antibody in alzheimer's disease)
- SPOK +21.3% (Spok confirms Acacia Research (ACTG) proposal to acquire co for $10.75 per share)
- APPS +8.6% (to join S&P MidCap 400)
- GLPG +7% (CEO to retire)
- THS +5.5% (will move from S&P MidCap 400 to S&P SmallCap 600)
- PFGC +4.5% (to join S&P MidCap 400)
- MRBK +4.1% (increases share repurchase authorization up to $20 mln)
- LGND +3.9% (will move from S&P MidCap 400 to S&P SmallCap 600; also Ligand partner receives approval for zimberelimab in China)
- AMRN +1.6% (reports overview of latest clinical research evaluating VASCEPA/VAZKEPA and eicosapentaenoic acid Presented at ESC Congress 2021)
- TLIS +1.4% (CEO departs)
- NVAX +1% (issues statement on CDC guidance update for COVID-19 clinical trial participants)
Analyst comments:
- FNKO +4.5% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies)
- BXS +2.7% (upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James)
- ADS +2.6% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities)
- CADE +1.6% (upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James)
- TXT +1.6% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen)
Early premarket gappers
- Gapping up:
- SPOK +21%, APPS +10.8%, RLGT +8.9%, AZRE +6.6%, GLPG +6.4%, THS +5.5%, LGND +5.2%, DAO +5.1%, CTKB +5%, PFGC +4.5%, NTES +2.6%, IMMR +2.4%, NDSN +1.8%, TLIS +1.4%, RMBS +1.1%, NVAX +0.7%, RTX +0.7%, PTVE +0.7%, OPK +0.5%
- Gapping down:
- ZM -11.6%, STNE -7.1%, INSP -6%, BGS -2.7%, PAR -0.7%, AGL -0.7%
Chinese media backs diatribe calling for crackdown to be expanded
Nationalist commentator says Xi’s campaign will transform China from a capitalist ‘paradise’
A blogger’s tirade endorsed widely by Chinese state media has called for Beijing’s snowballing regulatory overhaul to target the high costs of housing, education and healthcare while also instituting deep reforms to finance and cultural industries.
“This is a transformation from capital-centred to people-centred,” the writer said, adding that those who sought to block the deep reform efforts would be “discarded”.
The commentary, originally published by a popular nationalist blogger, has been shared by China’s biggest state and party-controlled media outlets including Xinhua news agency, the People’s Daily and CCTV television network, indicating the broad degree of state support.
It was published as investors and companies across China braced for the next step in Beijing’s expansive tech crackdown, which has already hit the ecommerce, education, fintech, ride hailing and gaming sectors and raised alleged abuses of laws governing data security, antitrust enforcement and labour and consumer rights.
The commentary claimed the litany of recent “rectification actions” heralded a “profound revolution”.
“The capital market will no longer become a paradise for capitalists to get rich overnight . . . the cultural market will no longer be a paradise for sissy stars and news and public opinion will no longer be in a position worshipping western culture,” said the blogger, who writes under the alias Li Guangman Ice Point Commentary.
The spate of regulatory actions has blanketed China’s technology sector with doubt, knocking billions of dollars off tech company valuations and the wealth of their founders. Investors, including leading China tech backer SoftBank, have paused funding activities until the pall of uncertainty lifts.
The industry ructions continued this week. On Monday, a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping approved plans for tighter controls of monopolies and pollution. The following day, China’s top securities regulator warned of a clampdown on private equity industry funds that had diverged from supporting innovation and start-ups.
However, Raymond Yeung, chief China economist at ANZ, pointed to recent tempering comments from Han Wenxiu, deputy director of the Communist party’s central finance office, who “represents the economic authority of the party” and had sought to reassure the public that China would not “repeat its ‘extreme-left’ policy” — a reference to the chaos of the Mao era.
“In our view, the latest rhetoric signals a significant shift in economic policy towards resource reallocation as China’s leaders acknowledge the constraints imposed by the looming economic slowdown over the next few years,” Yeung wrote in a research note.
Under a new brand of “Xiconomics”, Yeung said, “the authorities will likely steer the portfolio of financial institutions with an aim to benefit specific segments, notably the small and medium-sized enterprises”.
“The rationale behind ‘common prosperity’ is to support long-term consumption, although this policy direction is perceived to hinder income growth and wealth accumulation,” he added, referring to comments made by Xi that signalled a sharper focus on wealth redistribution
>>> Up
* Adesso SE PT Raised to 240 euros from 145 euros at M.M. Warburg (+)
* Infineon Raised to Buy at Stifel; PT 43 euros
* Infineon Raised to Buy at Stifel; PT 43 euros
* InterContinental Hotels ADRs Raised to Buy at SocGen
* InterContinental Hotels Raised to Buy at SocGen; PT 5,710 pence
* Philips Raised to Buy at ING; PT 45 euros
* ProSieben Raised to Outperform at Oddo BHF; PT 22 euros
* Rovi Raised to Outperform at Oddo BHF; PT 64.80 euros (+)
* Van de Velde Raised to Accumulate at KBC Securities; PT 28 euros (+)
* Weir Raised to Buy at Peel Hunt; PT 2,250 pence
>>> Down
* Adevinta Cut to Hold at Danske Bank Markets; PT 186 kroner (+)
* Cerved Cut to Hold at Berenberg
* Lufthansa Cut to Sell at Bankhaus Metzler; PT 7.20 euros (+)
* Safran Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 100 euros
* Safran Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley; PT 100 euros
>>> Initiation
* Bridgepoint Group Rated New Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley
* Bridgepoint Group Rated New Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 600 pence
* Bridgepoint Group Rated New Neutral at Citi; PT 513 pence
* Crayon Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 215 kroner
* Dianomi Rated New Buy at Liberum; PT 410 pence
* Musti Group Rated New Buy at SEB Equities; PT 41 euros
* Musti Group Rated New Buy at SEB Equities; PT 41 euros
* Reach Rated New Buy at Liberum; PT 475 pence
* Unicaja Rated New Overweight at Barclays; PT 1 euro
>>> Call
* InterContinental Raised at SocGen on Improving Demand Trends
>>> Call
* InterContinental Raised at SocGen on Improving Demand Trends
* Lufthansa Cut at Metzler as Prospects Are ‘Clouding Over Again’ (+)
* Safran Expectations Need to Be Reset, Morgan Stanley Downgrades
* Weir a Market-Leading Asset at a Low Price, Peel Hunt Upgrades