How can governments apply the lessons of coronavirus to the next pandemic? Many want to bring drug manufacturing back home — but it is not that simple. Here’s why 👇 on.ft.com/3ARobXj
It’s hard to create ready-for-action back-up factories, and harder still to plan for future crises. When Emergent BioSolutions tried to scale up one of its plants, tens of millions of Johnson & Johnson doses were contaminated with AstraZeneca’s vaccine ft.com/content/842698…
Attempts to untangle the global vaccine supply chain could end up concentrating capacity in the richest countries and entrenching inequalities. One solution is ‘stress tests’ to see if manufacturers can provide drugs when a country’s supply is disrupted ft.com/content/842698…
No vaccine is manufactured start-to-finish in one factory or country. Pfizer’s shot has 280 ingredients from 19 countries. The industry would prefer the removal of trade barriers — but some say that is ‘quasi-impossible’ ft.com/content/842698…
Experts fret that governments may pick the wrong technologies or back companies that cannot keep up with innovation. Drugmakers will also need to figure out how to keep staffed facilities ‘semi-switched on’ and ready to go during ‘inter-pandemic periods’ ft.com/content/842698…
Supplies of simpler drugs have also suffered during Covid-19. New York hospitals fought each other for critical medicines supplies, while France is reshoring production of paracetamol. But will one-off government investments be enough in the future? ft.com/content/842698…
Some are putting their hopes in new, nimble technologies, such as adaptable, ‘Ikea kitchen-style’ manufacturing facilities that fit inside a shipping container. It is now up to governments to decide whether to adopt such ideas to fight future pandemics ft.com/content/842698…
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Four FT pieces were recognised at the 2023 Awards for Editorial Excellence by the Society of Publishers in Asia. Read the winning works 👇 (1/5)
A shortage of heirs jeopardises Japan's family enterprises and threatens its economy. This engaging read by @Urbandirt, @SugiuraEri and @slodek earned an award for excellence in arts and culture reporting (2/5) ft.com/content/dc5c19…
@Urbandirt's commentary on rising resentment among Japan's young workers towards unproductive older colleagues received an honourable mention (3/5) ft.com/content/4012c8…
New investigation: thirteen women who worked for Odey Asset Management or had dealings with its founder Crispin Odey told the FT that he abused or harassed them.
The incidents, which occurred between 1998 and 2021, included masturbating on a female entrepreneur after a business meeting and forcing a friend’s hand on to his penis ft.com/content/e5d143…twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The FT once described Crispin Odey as ‘a large puppy in a pinstripe suit’. For three decades he has reigned over London’s hedge fund scene.
At his firm, once one of Europe’s largest hedge fund companies, he found many of his targets ft.com/content/e5d143…
🧵'Dare to fight' — Xi Jinping used the phrase recently to sum up China's new foreign policy. We break down Beijing's bid to shape the world around its own interests 👇(1/7) on.ft.com/42T0VXA
Xi has adopted a more assertive stance on foreign relations in the past decade, militarising artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea and becoming more aggressive towards Taiwan (2/7) on.ft.com/42T0VXA
Since 2013, China has sent more diplomatic missions to the Middle East than the west. This month, it convinced Iran and Saudi Arabia to resume diplomatic ties after a seven-year rift (3/7) on.ft.com/42T0VXA
🧵UBS executives have started trying to sell investors on the benefits of its $3.25bn shotgun marriage with Credit Suisse. Here's what the Swiss bank might look like after it fully takes over its defunct rival 👇 (1/6) on.ft.com/40lq9M8
🏦 After the takeover, UBS would become the second-largest private bank in the world after Morgan Stanley, with $3.4bn of wealth management assets (2/6) on.ft.com/40lq9M8
👥 If UBS holds on to Credit Suisse's most valuable asset, its domestic bank, thousands of jobs could be threatened as branches are closed and duplicate administrative roles removed (3/6) on.ft.com/40lq9M8
🧵 How is China's economy doing? We break down Beijing's first comprehensive overview of economic activity since it ended its zero-Covid rules in three charts 👇 (1/5) on.ft.com/3ZZiEdQ
🛍️ China's retail sales grew 3.5% year on year in the first two months of 2023, compared with declines in the previous three months (2/5) on.ft.com/3ZZiEdQ
🚘 But there were some weak spots in the positive retail figures. China's car sales contracted 9.4% year on year in January and February, compared with growth of 4.6% in December (3/5) on.ft.com/3ZZiEdQ