व्यापार

GENEVA (Reuters) -Swiss pharma companies are likely to follow Pfizer's price deal with the U.S. following a demand from President Donald Trump's administration for lower drug prices, the head of a major Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical industry association said on Wednesday. Pfizer and Trump said on Tuesday they had agreed a deal in which the U.S. firm would lower prescription drug prices in the Medicaid program to match those it charges in other developed countries in exchange for tariff relief. Stephan Mumenthaler, director general of Scienceindustries – which represents around 250 Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical companies – told Reuters he expected announcements of "mini-deals" to come one by one in the coming days and weeks from Swiss and global pharmaceutical companies. "They are thinking in similar schemes…How can you omit the margins that middlemen are taking away so that you basically have a similar price than before, but the end consumer still gets a lower price," he said in a video call from Basel. (Reporting by Olivia Le PoidevinEditing by Madeline Chambers)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Nick Carey and Jesus Calero LONDON (Reuters) -Tesla's sales rose in France and Denmark in September for the first month this year and continued to grow in Norway and Spain, local industry data showed on Wednesday, with its revamped Model Y coming in as the best-selling model in Denmark. However, the U.S. EV maker's new car registrations – a proxy for sales – fell in Sweden for the ninth straight month. Tesla has struggled in Europe this year as its small, ageing model lineup has faced growing competition from EVs launched by European and Chinese rivals. The company has not released a new mass-market model since the Model Y in 2020. RISING COMPETITION AND BACKLASH VS MUSK Tesla's competitive problems have been compounded by a backlash by some consumers against its CEO Elon Musk, who helped bankroll Donald Trump's U.S. presidential election victory last year and has championed European far-right parties. Tesla has argued that its revamped Model Y, which it began delivering in many European markets in June, would lead a recovery in European sales. For January-August, Tesla's sales were down 42.9% year-on-year in the European Union and down 32.6% in Europe as a whole. China's BYD outsold Tesla in the EU in August for the second time this year, though Tesla outperformed its Chinese rival across Europe as a whole. Despite recent gains in some markets because of the new Model Y, Tesla needs new models to regain momentum as more affordable EVs continue to hit the market in Europe, said Andy Palmer, chairman of EV advocacy group Electric Vehicles UK. "Tesla may still be a big fish, but the pond is now full of serious competitors," Palmer said. "Unless it refreshes its range, it will keep losing market share." In September, Tesla reported a 2.74% annual increase in sales in France and a 20.5% rise in Denmark. In Norway, Tesla's registrations were up 14.7%, with its Model Y and Model 3 taking the top two spots for sales. Tesla sales rose 3.4% in Spain, boosted by a 60% increase in new Model Y registrations. But in Sweden, which was Tesla's worst-performing market in Europe in the first eight months of the year, its registrations fell 64% to 1,726 cars, although that was up sharply from the 210 cars it registered there in August. (Reporting by Nick Carey. Editing by Mark Potter)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Seher Dareen LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices steadied on Wednesday after falling for two days as investors weighed OPEC+ plans for a larger output hike next month while data from the U.S. and Asia showed signs of demand waning. Brent crude futures for December delivery were down 4 cents to $65.99 a barrel by 1037 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 5 cents to $62.32 a barrel. Both contracts headed 1% lower earlier in the volatile trading session. On Monday, Brent and WTI both settled more than 3% lower, their sharpest daily declines since August 1. On Tuesday, they each fell 1.5% further. Oil has dropped on the market anticipating a similar size OPEC+ production increase in November and U.S. and Asian demand starting to fall, Rystad analyst Janiv Shah said. "U.S. drawdowns have slowed, so some bullish movement could start to flip," he added. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, triple the increase made for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share, three sources familiar with the talks said. However, OPEC wrote in a post on X that media reports of plans to raise output by 500,000 bpd were misleading. Meanwhile in the U.S., an industry report showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell while gasoline and distillate inventories rose in the week ended September 26, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute estimates on Tuesday. Data on factory activity in Asia, the world's biggest oil-consuming region, also added to concerns about fuel demand, as manufacturing activity contracted across most major economies in September. In addition, record U.S. oil production, some caution ahead of the OPEC+ meeting this weekend and a risk off environment due to the U.S. shutdown also played a part, Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS said. The U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal – which government agencies have warned would halt the release of a closely watched September employment report, amongst other things. Focus was also shifting to the supply and export disruption in Russia due to continuous and successful Ukrainian assaults, PVM Oil Associates' analyst Tamas Varga said. (Reporting by Seher Dareen in London, Mohi Narayan in New Delhi; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Jacqueline Wong, Alexandra Hudson)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Shubham Kalia (Reuters) -Apple's deal with ChatGPT owner OpenAI is not "exclusive" and does not harm competition, Apple's lawyers said as they asked a U.S. judge on Tuesday to dismiss a case filed by billionaire Elon Musk's OpenAI rival xAI. Musk's xAI is seeking billions of dollars in damages, saying Apple would have no reason to more prominently feature the X app and the Grok app in its App Store because of the "exclusive" deal with OpenAI. Under a deal announced in June 2024, Apple has integrated ChatGPT into its operating system for iPhones, iPads and Macs. Musk owns both X and xAI, which owns the Grok chatbot. Apple and OpenAI have "locked up markets to maintain their monopolies and prevent innovators like X and xAI from competing," the lawsuit filed by xAI in August claimed. "Apple and OpenAI's agreement is expressly not exclusive, and it is public and widely known that Apple intends to partner with other generative AI chatbots," lawyers for Apple said. In a separate filing, lawyers for OpenAI accused Musk of waging "a campaign of lawfare" against OpenAI and ChatGPT, referring to earlier suits that Musk, who is also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has filed against the company. They too asked the judge to dismiss the case. Musk's xAI "has not alleged any non-speculative harm rising directly out of ChatGPT’s integration as an option for certain features on certain iPhones — and certainly not the species of unlawful, anticompetitive harm targeted by antitrust law," lawyers for OpenAI wrote. Musk is separately suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman in federal court in California to stop its conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit business. Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a nonprofit. xAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours on Apple and OpenAI seeking dismissal of the suit. (Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Elaine Hardcastle)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -Several pharmaceutical companies have said they will sell drugs direct to patients in the U.S. and offered discounts following President Donald Trump's calls to bring down drug prices and cut out "middlemen" like pharmacies, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. The Trump administration announced on Tuesday plans to launch a government-run website called TrumpRx.gov in early 2026, offering reduced prices for prescription drugs. U.S. patients currently pay by far the most for prescription medicines, often nearly three times more than in other developed nations. Trump sent letters to 17 major companies in July demanding they slash U.S. prescription drug prices. Below is an overview of pharmaceutical companies which recently announced direct-to-consumer sales and price cuts in the U.S: PFIZER Pfizer and President Donald Trump said on Tuesday they had cut a deal in which the U.S.-based drugmaker agreed to lower prescription drug prices in the Medicaid programme to what it charges in other developed countries, in exchange for tariff relief. Pfizer will invest $70 billion in research and development and domestic manufacturing and received a three-year grace period during which its products will not be subject to U.S. tariffs on pharmaceuticals, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said. PhRMA U.S. pharmaceutical lobby group PhRMA said on Monday it would launch a new website, AmericasMedicines.com, next January to help patients buy prescription drugs directly from manufacturers. NOVO NORDISK Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said in August that it would offer its diabetes drug Ozempic for $499 per month to eligible cash-paying patients with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. via its own pharmacy, a tie-up with telehealth service GoodRx and other platforms. It had announced earlier in April that it was working with telehealth firms Hims & Hers, Ro and LifeMD to sell Wegovy to cash-paying US customers. ELI LILLY Eli Lilly said in June it would ship the two highest doses of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound to cash-paying customers on its website starting early August. ASTRA ZENECA AstraZeneca said on Friday it will sell its diabetes and asthma drugs direct to cash-paying U.S. patients at a discount of up to 70% off list prices. SANOFI French drugmaker Sanofi said on Friday it would offer a month's supply of any of its insulin products for $35 to all patients in the U.S. with a valid prescription, regardless of insurance status. ROCHE Roche is considering selling its prescription medicines in the U.S. directly to consumers to bring costs down for patients, as part of talks with the U.S. government, CEO Thomas Schinecker said in July. The model could appeal not only to the uninsured or under-insured, but also to insured patients comparing the cost of accessing drugs through insurers with cash prices, an industry source told Reuters. ZEALAND PHARMA Zealand Pharma is considering a direct-to-patient sales model as well as traditional insurer channels for the experimental weight-loss drug it is developing with Roche, its CEO told Reuters in September. BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB U.S. pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb will cut prices to eligible U.S. patients for blood clot treatment Eliquis and plaque psoriasis drug Sotyktu, with the latter being offered at a more than 80% discount to the list price, it said in September. WISP Women's telehealth provider Wisp said in September it expanded its weight-care offerings to include sale and doorstep delivery of Novo Nordisk's and Eli Lilly's popular drugs without the need for insurance. It priced Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro at $598, $558, and $489 per month, respectively, with the cost also including consultation, monthly follow-ups, and direct-to-door delivery. ABBVIE AbbVie said on Monday it would launch its ovarian cancer drug Elahere in the UK at a list price matching that in the U.S. following Trump's demands for drugmakers to offer the U.S. "most-favored-nation" pricing. (Compiled by Javi West Larrañaga and Emanuele Berro, Editing by Helen Reid)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Akash Sriram (Reuters) -Tesla is set to report its strongest quarter of the year on Thursday thanks to a U.S. rush to secure a $7,500 EV tax credit that expired earlier this week, but analysts expect the boost to be short-lived and European weakness to persist. The quarterly tally will help gauge how far U.S. subsidies lifted sales, as China leans on Tesla's expanded six-seater Model Y L launched in September while Europe slumped after the electric-vehicle maker's aging lineup struggled to compete and CEO Elon Musk's politics dampened buyer sentiment. That has set the stage for weaker third-quarter global deliveries than last year and a potential drop in the December quarter.     The expiry of U.S. tax credits likely accelerated purchases that normally would have been made later in the year, rather than attracting new buyers to the brand, analysts said. Musk had also cautioned in July that Tesla faces "a few rough quarters", as EV subsidies disappear, before revenue from self-driving software and services accelerate late next year. The billionaire, who has negotiated a trillion-dollar pay contract that shareholders will vote on in November, has said the future of Tesla is based on self-driving cars and robots, but at the moment, most of its revenue comes from vehicle sales. Wall Street pegs Tesla's third‑quarter deliveries at about 441,500 vehicles, with full-year 2025 at roughly 1.6 million, about 10% below last year, according to Visible Alpha estimates. Despite the September quarter set to be the strongest this year, it would still be about 6% lower than the 462,900 delivered in the same quarter last year. EV makers across the board pulled out the stops with marketing in the United States ahead of the federal tax credit ended on Tuesday. "The $7,500 credit definitely should have some effect that pulled forward demand this quarter," said Ken Mahoney, CEO at Tesla shareholder Mahoney Asset Management. Mahoney said the credit's expiry could leave a U.S. demand gap in the fourth quarter, while price cuts and promotions, especially in China, may keep margins under pressure. Deutsche Bank analysts, however, expect China could soften the blow in the fourth quarter, especially considering the launch of the Model Y L in September. Musk has said the Y L is unlikely to make a U.S. entry until the end of next year.  The fourth quarter also hinges on whether Tesla will keep to its goal of rolling out a cheaper version of the Model Y before year-end. Europe is likely to remain a sore point. In August, Tesla sales in Europe and the UK fell 22.5% from a year ago, cutting its market share to 1.5%, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, as rivals leaned into plug-in hybrids and Chinese brands gained ground. As U.S. incentives lapse, a broader pullback by other automakers on EV output could also reduce competitive pressure. "Since Tesla has such strong margins per vehicle, they have more room to play with the pricing dynamic if they needed to," said Brian Mulberry, senior client portfolio manager at Tesla investor Zacks Investment Management. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures slid on Wednesday as investors assessed the fallout from the federal government shutdown, which threatens to delay key economic data and muddy the central bank's policy-easing plans. The risk-off sentiment reflects investor unease over what analysts have warned could be a prolonged impasse, driven by deep partisan divisions in Washington. Markets are leaning heavily into hopes of a dovish Fed policy to sustain the rally that led equities to their second straight quarter of gains on Tuesday. "While a government shutdown is disruptive in its own ways, now isn't exactly the time that investors or the Fed want to lose access to key economic data points," said Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro. Shutdowns have not derailed markets historically – the S&P 500 rose during each of the last six government shutdowns, according to a note from Deutsche Bank. However, the current episode coincides with elevated stock valuations and a fragile mood. Prolonged shutdowns also amplify risks. In the seven instances when they lasted 10 or more days, the index fell four times and rose thrice, according to data from Vanguard. At 05:39 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 230 points, or 0.49%, U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were down 36.75 points, or 0.55%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 157.25 points, or 0.63%. The nonfarm payrolls report, scheduled for release on Friday, now seems likely to be delayed. It would be a setback for investors hoping for benign data to support a 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate cut. With uncertainty around release time, the ADP National Employment Report and the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing PMI for September, due on Wednesday, will likely be scrutinized for clues on the labor market as well as inflation. The shutdown could also jolt the labor market if federal agencies resort to mass layoffs, as President Donald Trump has vowed to do. "Headlines about potential permanent layoffs linked to the shutdown add a low-probability, high-impact tail risk that could nudge unemployment higher," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at online trading company Capital.com. Additionally, investors will parse commentary from Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin for any shift in tone as policymakers navigate an uncertain data landscape. Nike was among the early movers, rising 3.1% in premarket trading a day after reporting surprise revenue growth in the first quarter. NYSE-listed shares of Lithium Americas surged 31% after it said the U.S. Department of Energy had taken a 5% stake in the company. Enanta Pharmaceuticals and AAR Corp fell 12.3% and 6.8%, respectively, after pricing their stock offerings. (Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Pooja Desai)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

BELGRADE (Reuters) -The U.S. Department of the Treasury has granted a special licence delaying full sanctions on Serbia's Russian-owned oil company NIS and allowing its operations to continue until October 8, NIS said on Wednesday. NIS operates the only oil refinery in the Balkan country. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control initially placed sanctions on Russia's oil sector on January 10, and gave Gazprom Neft 45 days to exit ownership of NIS. Sanctions had been postponed several times since, but last week the U.S. said sanctions would be launched on October 1. NIS – in which Gazprom Neft owns a 44.9% stake, Gazprom 11.3% and the Serbian government 29.9% – operates Serbia's sole refinery, in the town of Pancevo, just outside Belgrade. The Pancevo facility has an annual capacity of 4.8 million tons and covers most of the Balkan country's needs, and sanctions could jeopardise its supply of crude via Croatia's Janaf. JANAF in a statement on Wednesday said it also has a licence to transport crude oil for NIS until October 8. "In the coming days, JANAF d.d., through its American lawyer and with the support of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, will apply to OFAC with the aim of obtaining an extension of the aforementioned license," it said. "The possibility of extending the licence after October 8, 2025 will largely depend on further activities undertaken by the company NIS a.d. according to the competent American institutions." (Reporting by Antonis Pothitos and Ivana Sekularac; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Ed Osmond)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Sneha S K (Reuters) -Bristol Myers Squibb, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Astex Pharmaceuticals are coming together to share proprietary data for training an artificial intelligence model to assist drug discovery and development. The companies are joining a consortium that includes AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson , and will contribute data from several thousand experimentally determined protein–small molecule structures to train an AI model called OpenFold3, life sciences company Apheris said on Wednesday. The initiative is based on a federated data sharing model, which enables collaboration without exposing sensitive data. Germany-based Apheris' computing platform enables the aggregation of diverse data sets from companies while ensuring each dataset remains securely in its original location. By pooling these datasets, the initiative aims to improve OpenFold3’s accuracy in predicting interactions of proteins and small molecules. The federated platform allows multiple companies to "advance predictive models for small molecule discovery in ways no single organization could achieve alone," said Payal Sheth, vice president, discovery biotherapeutics and lead discovery and optimization at Bristol. OpenFold3 is the flagship project of the industry-led AI Structural Biology Network, conducted in collaboration with the AlQuraishi Lab at Columbia University. This consortium really ties into our larger corporate goal of embedding AI throughout all of what we do; and also a nice example of how we can come together as pharma companies and do even more for patients than we could if we did it on our own, said Hans Bitter, head of computational sciences at Takeda. (Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)

By Sneha S K (Reuters) -Bristol Myers Squibb, Takeda Pharmaceuticals and Astex Pharmaceuticals are coming together to share proprietary data for training an artificial intelligence model to assist drug discovery and development. The companies are joining a consortium that includes AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson , and will contribute data from several thousand experimentally determined protein–small molecule structures to train an AI model called OpenFold3, life sciences company Apheris said on Wednesday. The initiative is based on a federated data sharing model, which enables collaboration without exposing sensitive data. Germany-based Apheris' computing platform enables the aggregation of diverse data sets from companies while ensuring each dataset remains securely in its original location. By pooling these datasets, the initiative aims to improve OpenFold3’s accuracy in predicting interactions of proteins and small molecules. The federated platform allows multiple companies to "advance predictive models for small molecule discovery in ways no single organization could achieve alone," said Payal Sheth, vice president, discovery biotherapeutics and lead discovery and optimization at Bristol. OpenFold3 is the flagship project of the industry-led AI Structural Biology Network, conducted in collaboration with the AlQuraishi Lab at Columbia University. This consortium really ties into our larger corporate goal of embedding AI throughout all of what we do; and also a nice example of how we can come together as pharma companies and do even more for patients than we could if we did it on our own, said Hans Bitter, head of computational sciences at Takeda. (Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)