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Emboldened ESG activists savor next round of boardroom showdowns


Jeff Green and Saijel Kishan, Bloomberg News  June 30,2021

The Open Canadian energy companies getting better at communicating greener initiatives: Middlefield's Lauzon

Rob Lauzon, managing director and deputy chief investment officer at Middlefield Capital Corporation, joins BNN Bloomberg to weigh in on declining investor interest in the Canadian energy sector. He hasn't shunned the sector, but he's not overweight on these energy companies. At the same time, he believes that Canadian energy companies are getting better at communicating their greener initiatives.



8:23 Canadian energy companies getting better at communicating greener...

5:57  Bitcoin could solve ESG issues many organizations face: Chamber o...

11:00 Canada’s path to a low-carbon economy

Mention Engine No. 1’s victory over Exxon Mobil Corp. last month to the socially conscious investing crowd and they’ll rattle off a wish list of targets that have so-far resisted calls to reform their social practices.

The possibilities include Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc., Netflix Inc. and private prisons, to name a few. The question, though, is whether the tactics Engine No. 1 used to gain three seats on the oil giant’s board are a viable method for other small activist investors to replicate against companies where they’d like faster change.

Most activist investors say: not exactly. But, inspired by Engine No 1., they are getting more aggressive. Some say they’ll use the threat of targeting the board to get companies to engage in their proposals. Eli Kasargod-Staub, co-founder of Majority Action, a non-profit that pushes for corporate accountability, plans to ramp up “just vote no” campaigns against undesirable directors. Others are suggesting specific board candidates that favor social change, and some are lobbying Engine No. 1 to find its next Exxon.

James McRitchie, an activist investor who over decades has sponsored hundreds of proxy proposals about social and governance issues, emailed Engine No. 1 to suggest they look at Netflix. Investors have approved several proposals that would make it easier to replace Netflix directors, but the streaming giant has not agreed to the changes.

Engine No. 1 wouldn’t comment on its next possible targets, though it owns stakes in Square Inc., Microsoft Corp., Shopify Inc., Zendesk Inc., and Penumbra Inc. Netflix said in its proxy statement this year that it is taking steps to be responsive to ESG concerns from investors.

“A more collaborative approach would be ideal,’’ Renaye Manley, deputy director at the Service Employees International Union, one of the groups leading the charge to pressure companies to perform racial audits, said on a June 10 Bloomberg Intelligence panel. “But I can certainly see this type of a kind of activist-investor approach over civil rights happening at some point in the future.’’

Nell Minow, who advises institutional investors on corporate governance issues at ValueEdge Advisors, said Engine No. 1 primed boards to be more alert and responsive out of fear of losing control.

“After we spent a lot of money on our first proxy contest, and took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal for a quarter million dollars, we never had to do that again,” she said, referring to an aggressive campaign she waged against the Sears, Roebuck and Co. board in 1991. “Because people knew we would do that if we had to.”

Engine No. 1 succeeded under a set of unique conditions. First, the firm was started by a former hedge fund manager who used his personal wealth to finance a fight with around a US$13 million price tag, according to the fund. It also made a strong case for board change, arguing that the oil giant had lower shareholder yields than competitors and mounting debt and spending that jeopardized its dividend. Exxon was also losing money, and Engine No. 1 argued its resistance to transitioning to a low-carbon future would lead to more losses in the future.

“Exxon was unique in its own way,’’ said Eleazer “Ele’’ Klein, a lawyer who represented Engine No. 1 in its campaign. “It wasn't responsive to its shareholders’ frustrations.’’

Investors don’t often reject director candidates. So far this year, less than 0.5 per cent of the 15,000 board members in the Russell 3000 failed to get at least 50 per cent of the vote in an uncontested election, where seats are assigned based on vote totals. The three Exxon directors were the only ones ousted this year in a contested election, where board candidates have to receive a majority of votes, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data through June 29.

Pressuring companies to switch up their board, rather than a full-on takeover, may be a more realistic approach. Arjuna Capital, which has had success getting major technology and finance firms to release pay gap statistics, now has proposals at Facebook, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Twitter to add civil rights experts as directors. “It’s a different existential crisis than Exxon is facing,” Natasha Lamb, a managing partner at Arjuna, said. “But it’s a business imperative.”

Alphabet said in its proxy statement that its current board is sufficiently qualified to provide civil rights oversight. Facebook declined to comment but pointed to a website outlining the company's efforts to address hate speech on its platforms. Twitter declined to comment.

Activists have made progress making alternative directors more palatable to big investors, said Rusty O’Kelley, an executive recruiter at Russell Reynolds. Five years ago, the typical slate would have included members of the fund or their close associates, he said. Now the groups work with executive recruiters to establish networks of board-ready candidates.

“They are much more likely to have a slate of people who have industry relevance, who represent gender and ethnic diversity and look and feel more credible,” O’Kelley said. “It’s designed to gain support from BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street.”

Activist investors have already this year submitted a record number of proposals aimed at improving diversity and equality in corporate America. Even though many of them failed, support averaged 32 per cent, well above the average 24.2 per cent over the previous five years, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence. Companies often engage with activists if their proposals get at least 30 per cent of the vote, though they’re under no obligation to do so in most cases.


Some of their biggest targets, however, like Facebook and Alphabet are somewhat insulated from these kinds of campaigns because of their dual-class share structures. Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, for example, has majority control of the social network even though he owns less than 15 per cent of outstanding shares.

Still, some boards are being proactive. A survey this spring by recruiter Spencer Stuart of 77 committee chairs on S&P 500 boards found that expanding or enhancing ESG initiatives is their number one priority over the next three years.

Traders Betting on Hawkish Shift by Colombia Face Reality Check

BC-Traders-Betting-on-Hawkish-Shift-by-Colombia-Face-Reality-Check , Davison Santana and Maria Elena Vizcaino

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Colombia’s central bank is stymieing derivative traders betting on faster-than-anticipated interest-rate hikes and creating obstacles for those bullish on the peso.

The unanimity of the central bank’s decision this week to keep rates unchanged spurred an unwinding of bets that Colombia would join Brazil, Mexico and other nations that are pulling back stimulus to curb inflation as their economies begin rebounding from the pandemic.

While the market was far from pricing in a rate increase at the Monday meeting, the peso rallied ahead of it on speculation Colombia could follow in the footsteps of Mexico’s surprise hike last week.

But the resounding decision to instead stand pat has given investors a strong incentive to shift cash elsewhere to seize on higher rates, adding another potential headwind to a currency that has been weighed down this year by political protests and economic uncertainty. Rate futures now show roughly even odds that the bank will hold steady again at the next meeting on July 30, and the peso has slid some 1.6% against the U.S. dollar since the decision.

“A more hawkish central bank of Colombia was an important driver for short-term tactical bullishness” for the peso, said Jens Nystedt, a fund manager in New York at Emso Asset Management, whose firm oversees $6.8 billion. But what this week’s meeting “signals quite clearly here is that they’re not going to be hiking anytime soon. That catalyst is not going to be there.”

Nystedt said the peso may strengthen on the back of oil prices in the medium term. But he said the bank’s stance means that any near-term advance in the currency will hinge on credit-rating moves and whether President Ivan Duque Marquez has success in reviving fiscal reforms to shore up the government’s finances.

Speculation that the bank would start lifting its key benchmark from a record low of 1.75% was spurred in part by figures showing that inflation accelerated, even though that was partly attributed to supply-chain issues caused by nationwide demonstrations and unrest set off by Duque’s ill-fated attempt to raise taxes. On June 25, the day after Mexico’s hike, part of the Colombian swap-rate curve saw its biggest daily swing in more than a year, only to reverse that after the bank held steady.

Futures markets are now pricing in an approximately 50% chance of a 25 basis-point-hike in July and that the bank’s key rate will be at 2.29% in three months, less than the 2.41% predicted ahead of Monday’s meeting.

As in other countries, Colombia policymakers see some of the uptick in inflation as the result of temporary factors caused by the emergence from the Covid-19 lockdowns. And while inflation went from 1.5% year-over-year in December to 3.3% in May, it’s still well within the bank’s target range.

Even if investors agree that the central bank has time to tighten monetary policy, the country’s currency could still underperform those from counties such as as Brazil, Mexico and South Africa where similar recoveries are underway and interest rates are higher. The annual yield an investor receives to carry a long Colombian peso position for one month adjusted by currency volatility is only 0.12%, half what traders get in the Brazilian real and less than a third of the cushion offered by the Mexican peso, which drastically impacts the attractiveness of the Andean currency.

There’s also the risk of more downgrades to Colombia’s foreign-currency bonds, which were cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings in May. Late Thursday, Fitch Ratings followed suit, dropping the debt to one step below investment grade.

“The central bank of Colombia is facing a less challenging inflation outlook in the near term so they have more room to wait than the other countries, like Brazil and Mexico,” said Mauro Roca, managing director of emerging markets at TCW Group Inc. in Los Angeles.

“Colombian rates don’t look the most attractive in a relative basis in the moment,” he said. “There’s still important political noise and that may affect the prospect of tax reform, which may also impact local assets.”

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Australia's Afghanistan war crimes report: 39 alleged unlawful killings

Australia's Defence Chief says there is information to substantiate 23 incidents of alleged unlawful killing of 39 people by 25 special forces personnel.

Australian soldiers in Afghanistan. Photo: AFP

A culture of secrecy, fabrication and deceit has cast a heavy shadow over the legacy of the Australian special forces deployment in Afghanistan, with a landmark inquiry recommending 19 soldiers be investigated by police for the "murder" of 39 civilians and the cruel treatment of two others.

Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell has released his final report after a long-running probe that found "credible information" that 25 current or former Australian Defence Force personnel were involved in the serious crimes, either carrying out the offences or at least being "accessories" to the incidents.

"To the people of Afghanistan, on behalf of the Australian Defence Force, I sincerely and unreservedly apologise for any wrongdoing by Australian soldiers," General Campbell said.

"It is my duty and that of my fellow chiefs to set things right."

He said the report found none of the alleged unlawful killings were described as "being in the heat of battle".

"None were alleged to have occurred in circumstances in which the intent of the perpetrator was unclear, confused or mistaken.

"Every person spoken to by the inquiry thoroughly understood the law of armed conflict and the rules of engagement under which they operated."

The report follows a lengthy inquiry which examined allegations of unlawful killings and other possible breaches by Australia's elite special forces.


Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Campbell Photo: AFP
SAS 'warrior culture' and 'blooding' called out

Major General Paul Brereton's report found problems with some SAS squadrons where some troops were "not well-mentored, but were rather left to swim or sink".

"A substantial indirect responsibility falls upon those in [the] Special Air Service Regiment who embraced or fostered the 'warrior culture' and the clique of non-commissioned officers who propagated it," he said.

"Special Forces operators should pride themselves on being model professional soldiers, not on being 'warrior heroes'."

The IGADF found there were "liberal" interpretations of when troops could consider people to be "directly involved in hostilities", and therefore able to be targeted.

The inquiry said junior soldiers were often required by their patrol commanders to shoot prisoners to get their first kill. This was a practice known as "blooding".

"Typically, the patrol commander would take a person under control and the junior member, who would then be directed to kill the person under control," Major General Brereton said.
Prosecutions after four and a half years of inquiry

The report recommends a total of 36 incidents be referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for criminal investigation.

Even before these matters end up in court, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) believes the Australian Government should pay compensation to the families of victims in Afghanistan.

The heavily redacted findings of Major General Brereton's investigation into allegations and rumours of war crimes by Australian special forces have been released in Canberra, after an inquiry running for more than four and a half years.

Major General Brereton said none of the incidents he was referring to the Australian Federal Police for criminal investigation could be discounted as "disputable decisions made under pressure in the heat of battle".

"The cases in which it has been found that there is credible information of a war crime are ones where it was, or should have been, plain that the person killed was a non-combatant," he said.

The inquiry interviewed 423 witnesses, and investigators pored over more than 20,000 documents and more than 25,000 images as part of the probe, investigating conduct between 2005 and 2016.
Secrecy and deceit

He said investigators struggled to get information from troops during the course of their probe, saying senior officers were "frustrated by outright deceit by those who knew the truth and, not infrequently, misguided resistance to inquiries and investigations by their superiors".

"The inquiry has encountered enormous challenges in eliciting truthful disclosure in the closed, closely bonded, and highly compartmentalised Special Forces community, in which loyalty to one's mates, immediate superiors and the unit are regarded as paramount, in which secrecy is at a premium and in which those who leak are anathema," Major General Brereton said.

The inquiry also found evidence some Australian troops in Afghanistan had carried "throwdowns" - such as weapons, radios and grenades not issued by the ADF - which would be planted next to the bodies of Afghan civilians to suggest they were a "legitimate target" in any post-incident investigations.

"This practice probably originated for the less egregious though still dishonest purpose of avoiding scrutiny where a person who was legitimately engaged turned out not to be armed," Major General Brereton said.

"But it evolved to be used for the purpose of concealing deliberate unlawful killings."

He argued the behaviour meant ADF personnel as a whole were undermined.

"Moral authority is an element of combat power.

If we do not hold ourselves, on the battlefield, at least to standards we expect of our adversaries, we deprive ourselves of that moral authority, and that element of combat power.

"We are all diminished by it."
Morrison called to express sorrow - Afghanistan President

Afghanistan's President says Prime Minister Scott Morrison has expressed "his deepest sorrow over the misconduct by some Australian troops" in his country, as Defence prepares to release a long-awaited report into alleged war crimes.

A statement from Afghanistan's presidential palace said Mr Morrison called President Ashraf Ghani overnight and told him that future investigations into the allegations would ensure justice.

According to the palace, Foreign Minister Marise Payne also wrote to her Afghan counterpart to extend "apologies for the misconduct identified by the inquiry, by some Australian military personnel in Afghanistan".
Special investigator to prosecute

Earlier in November it was reported that a special investigator would be appointed to prosecute allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said there were a "significant number" of incidents and issues to look into, and the investigation would be "inherently complex".

He warned the process would "[require] us to deal with honest and brutal truths where expectations and standards may not have been met".

"Given the likely allegations of serious and possibly criminal misconduct, the matters raised in the inquiry must be assessed, investigated and, where allegations are substantiated, prosecuted in court," he said.

"The Office of the Special Investigator will address the criminal matters made in the Inspector General's report and investigate those allegations, gather evidence and, where appropriate, refer briefs to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration."

Since 2016, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) has examined allegations of unlawful killings and other possible breaches of the law of armed conflict committed mainly by elite soldiers during their lengthy deployment in Afghanistan.

The prime minister said the office of the investigator would be set up within the Department of Home Affairs.

Morrison also announced a new panel will be established to drive cultural change inside Australia's SAS and 2nd Commando Regiment.

- ABC  19 November 2020

US exit leads Afghans to rue decades of war

As American troops left their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday local time, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in US history, locals living in the shadow of the base and in nearby Kabul were left ruing the past and bracing for what comes next.


A man holds a teddy bear as people look for useable items at a junkyard near the Bagram Air Base in Bagram. Photo: AFP

Violence has been raging throughout Afghanistan in the weeks since President Joe Biden announced troops would withdraw unconditionally by 11 September.

With peace talks in Qatar stuttering, and roughly a quarter of the country's districts having fallen to the Taliban in recent weeks according to one study, many are concerned that chaos looms.

Malek Mir, a mechanic in Bagram who saw the Soviet Army and then the Americans come and go, said he was left with a deep sense of sadness at the futility of a foreign presence.

"They came with bombing the Taliban and got rid of their regime - but now they have left when the Taliban are so empowered that they will take over any time soon," he said.

"What was the point of all the destruction, killing and misery they brought us? I wish they had never come."

More than 3500 foreign troops have been killed in a two-decade war, which has claimed over 100,000 civilians since 2009 alone, according to the United Nations' records.

Some, however, say the presence of foreign troops distorted Afghanistan's economy and that it is time for the country to stand on its own.

"The Americans leave a legacy of failure, they've failed in containing the Taliban or corruption," said Sayed Naqibullah, a shop owner in Bagram. "A small percentage of Afghans got so rich, while the vast majority still live with extreme poverty.

"In a way, we're happy they've gone ... We're Afghans and we'll find our way."


An Afghan boy cycles on a roadside behind the Bagram airfield while Afghan forces guard base towers in Kabul, Afghanistan. Photo: AFP or licensors

'I had many dreams that will not come true'

In the nearby capital, the news was a fresh reminder of the growing panic that has been gripping many parts of Afghan society, particularly in urban areas, since Biden announced the withdrawal in April.

"All the people are worried that if foreign forces leave Afghanistan, the Taliban will take over. Then what will we do?" asked Zumarai Wafa, a Kabul shopkeeper.

Wafa and others described a slump in business and signs of many urban residents trying to flee the country, with hundreds lined up outside embassies seeking visas.


Many are trying to get visas so they can leave Afghanistan. Photo: AFP

Medical student Muzhda, 22, who asked to be identified by only one name for security reasons, said her family had decided to leave the country because of the deterioration in security.

She said she wondered what future awaited women if the Taliban came back to power and restricted access to education for women, as they did during their previous time in power.

The Taliban say they have changed and that they will make provisions for women's rights in line with cultural traditions and religious rules.

Still, Muzhda said she feels bereft and let down by the American departure.

"The withdrawal of foreign troops in the current situation is irrational," she said. "It is now clear that the Americans came here for their own purposes, not to help and cooperate with Afghanistan.

"I'm very sad and disappointed, I had many dreams that will not come true."

- Reuters

Protesters are calling on Brazil's president to step down after members of his administration worked to illegally profit from COVID-19 vaccine purchase

Sarah Al-Arshani
4 hours ago

A puppet of Jair Bolsonaro with a signal that reads "Prison to Bolsonaro" is seen in a demonstration against Bolsonaro's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on July 3, 2021. MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images


Protesters in Brazil are calling on President Jair Bolsonaro to step down, the AP reported.

Members of his administration allegedly tried to illegally profit from COVID-19 vaccine deals.

He is being investigated for knowing about the illegal activity.

Protests are spreading across Brazil as residents call for President Jair Bolsonaro to step down following allegations that members of his administration tried to illegally profit off of a COVID-19 vaccine deal, the Associated Press reported.

On Friday, Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber authorized a criminal investigation into his response to the allegations.

The investigation is looking into whether or not Bolsonaro delayed or didn't take any action when the allegations were brought to his attention.

Luis Ricardo Miranda, the chief of the Health Ministry's import division, said he and his brother, lawmaker Luis Miranda, spoke to Bolsonaro after he was pressured to sign off on the import of millions of vaccines from Indian pharmaceutical Bharat Biotech, which showed invoice irregularities, including a $45 million upfront payment to a Singapore-based company.


Bolsonaro told him he would tell the Federal Police, but the police never got a request, the AP reported.

Eventually, Bolsonaro had the Miranda brothers investigated and his secretary-general of the presidency, Onyx Lorenzoni, said they presented falsified documents.

Bolsonaro has been criticized for his overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far infected more than 18 million Brazilians and killed over 523,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The New York Times reported that more than 100 lawmakers across multiple parties drafted impeachment articles against Bolsonaro last week.


"Every crime committed by the president is serious, but this one is even more serious because it involves lives," Joice Hasselmann, a member of Congress from São Paulo told the Times."Brazil can't stand another year with Bolsonaro."

Protests erupt against president Bolsonaro as Brazil surpasses 500k Covid deaths | In Pics

 

Brazilians protest against Bolsonaro after corruption probe opened

Martina Farmbauer

 Jul 3, 2021

©

Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets against President Jair Bolsonaro's coronavirus policies on Saturday after the Supreme Court allowed investigations to be opened into Bolsonaro over corruption allegations related to vaccine orders.

In more than 110 cities in Brazil, demonstrators also called for an accelerated vaccine campaign, the Brazilian news portal G1 reported.

The protests were originally planned for July 24, but organizers called for them to take place earlier in light of the allegations.

Judge Rosa Weber granted a request by the Attorney General's Office to look into corruption allegations against Bolsonaro linked to the order of 20 million doses of the Indian Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, the news agency Agencia Brasil reported on Friday evening.

A group of senators had filed criminal charges against Bolsonaro on suspicion of abuse of office for ignoring a suspicion of corruption.

A former Health Ministry employee had reported "unusual pressure" in the handling of the vaccine deal, worth more than 300 million dollars in total. The price of 15 dollars is also said to be the highest that the Health Ministry has been willing to pay for a dose so far.

The Health Ministry is said to have ordered the vaccine, which was developed and manufactured in India, before it was even approved in Brazil.

A lawmaker, the brother of the former Health Ministry official, testified to having informed Bolsonaro about these inconsistencies.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian government, which suspended the contract to buy the Covaxin vaccine doses this week, gave several versions of the case. Bolsonaro said he had no knowledge of irregularities.

According to senators close to the government, on the other hand, Bolsonaro allegedly informed the health minister at the time, Eduardo Pazuello, about the allegations.

The Indian company Bharat Biotech said that the price of a dose of Covaxin for foreign governments was between 15 and 20 dollars, and the price for Brazil was within this range.

The Covaxin deal has also recently been the focus of a parliamentary investigative committee looking into the actions and omissions of Bolsonaro in the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the opening of impeachment proceedings against him depends on the president of the Chamber of Deputies - who is considered an ally of Bolsonaro's government.

PHOTO Jose Lucena/TheNEWS2 via ZUMA Wire/dpa

Covaxin row: Brazil top court gives nod for probing charges against Bolsonaro

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (REUTERS)1

Updated: 04 Jul 2021

Reuters

The president has been implicated in allegations of irregularities surrounding a 1.6 billion reais ($316 million) contract signed in February for 20 million doses with a Brazilian intermediary for the vaccine's maker, Bharat Biotech

Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Rosa Weber late on Friday authorized an investigation of President Jair Bolsonaro by the top prosecutor's office, or PGR, for dereliction of duty in the process of procuring an Indian Covid-19 vaccine, according to a copy of the decision seen by Reuters.

The president has been implicated in allegations of irregularities surrounding a 1.6 billion reais ($316 million) contract signed in February for 20 million doses with a Brazilian intermediary for the vaccine's maker, Bharat Biotech.

A Brazilian Senate commission investigating the administration's handling of the pandemic has cited suspicions of overpricing and corruption related to the contract. After allegations of irregularities surfaced, the government suspended the contract.

Brazil has suffered the world's second-highest number of Covid-19 deaths.

Brazilian federal prosecutors and the comptroller general's office, or CGU, are also separately investigating the alleged irregularities in the deal. The case allegedly involves the government's chief whip in the lower house of Congress, Ricardo Barros, according to lawmakers.

Bolsonaro and Barros denied any wrongdoing.

The investigation of the president by the PGR had to be formally authorized by the Supreme Court. In her decision, Justice Weber gave authorities 90 days for collection of evidence pertaining to the case.

New, deadly bacteria may be lurking in US; CDC warns of three puzzling cases

This isn't the first time the deadly bacteria has surfaced in the US unexpectedly.

BETH MOLE - 7/2/2021, ARS TECHNICA

Enlarge / Burkholderia pseudomallei grown on sheep blood agar for 24 hours.

 Burkholderia pseudomallei is a Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, and it's the causative agent of melioidosis.

Getty | CDC/Courtesy of Larry Stauffer, Oregon State Public Health Laboratory


A deadly soil bacterium common in tropical and subtropical climates has mysteriously infected three people in three different US states, killing at least one, according to a health alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While US cases of the infection periodically pop up in travelers, none of the three infected people have recent travel history that could easily explain how they picked up the dangerous germ. The bacteria, Burkholderia pseudomallei, usually infects by direct contact with an environmental source, i.e. contaminated soil or water. It most often attacks through breaks in the skin and it very rarely jumps from human to human. Yet genetic analyses of the bacterial strains in the latest US cases indicate that the three, geographically-separated infections are related.

The curious cluster of cases suggests there was a common source of the bacteria. Investigators speculate that a yet-unidentified imported product or animal could be a common source. For instance, iguanas and monkeys imported with infections have been linked to cases in the past. But the cluster also resurfaces concern that B. pseudomallei is no longer a mere interloper in the US, rather it may have become a permanent, low-key resident.

The Great Mimicker

The distinction is not only critical for infection prevention efforts but also clinical care. Infections with B. pseudomallei cause melioidosis, which can be fatal in 10 percent to 50 percent of cases. People with diabetes, kidney disease, chronic lung disease, and alcoholism are most at risk. But the symptoms can be vague and widely variable. They include everything from localized pain, swelling, fever, ulceration, and abscesses, to coughing, chest pain, headaches, anorexia, respiratory distress, abdominal discomfort, joint pain, disorientation, weight loss, stomach or chest pain, muscle pain, joint pain, and seizures.

The symptoms are so nebulous, melioidosis is sometimes called the "Great Mimicker" because it's often mistaken for other serious conditions, such as tuberculosis. Without a travel history that may hint at an exposure to B. pseudomallei, doctors may misdiagnose it—and that can quickly turn deadly. B. pseudomallei is resistant to many antibiotic treatments. Delayed diagnosis and improper treatment can allow the infection to go systemic, which can be fatal in 90 percent of cases.Advertisement

In the three new cases occurring in two adults and one child, the symptoms ranged from cough and shortness of breath, to weakness, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, intermittent fever, and rash on the trunk, abdomen, and face, the CDC said.

The cases occurred in Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota. One identified in March was fatal. The person had several risk factors for melioidosis, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cirrhosis, and this person died ten days after being hospitalized. Of the remaining two cases, one is still hospitalized and one has been transferred to a transitional care unit.

None of the three patients or members of their families reported traveling outside the continental US. In the health alert, the CDC recommended that healthcare providers, "Consider melioidosis in patients with a compatible illness even if they do not have a travel history to a disease-endemic country." It's a recommendation that's been made before.

Connections

This is not the first time that US residents with no recent travel have turned up with a mysterious B. pseudomallei infection. In 2018, a 63-year-old Texas resident, who had not left the state in 30 years, turned up with a near fatal case of melioidosis. To try to track down the infection source, state and federal health investigators thoroughly swabbed the man's small rural ranch, which had no running water. They sampled soil, surfaces, plumbing, and his water tanks, including the 1,600-gallon water storage tank that the man climbed into on a monthly basis to clean. They found no trace of B. pseudomallei.

But similar to the three new linked cases, the strain of B. pseudomallei infecting the Texas resident in 2018 was genetically linked to other strains that had popped up in US residents. In fact, the closest genetic match to the 2018 Texas case was a strain collected from a 2004 Texas case in the very same county, Atascosa. In that case, too, the Texas resident didn't seem to have any recent travel history that explained the infection. (It's unclear how the strains from the three new cases relate to others found in North America and elsewhere.)

In a case report of the 2018 case published last year, health investigators with the CDC and the Texas Health Department highlighted the link to the 2004 cases. In particular, they noted that it was "originally hypothesized that the 2004 patient was infected 62 years before disease onset, while serving during World War II in Southeast Asia." But the strain of B. pseudomallei infecting the 2004 Texas case was not related to strains from Southeast Asia, the investigators wrote—the strain was related to other strains from the Americas.

Besides the 2004 Texas case, the next closest genetic match to the 2018 Texas strain was to a strain from a 1999 case in Arizona. Though it was isolated from a patient who had recently emigrated from El Salvador, the strain was more genetically similar to the North American isolates than anything seen in Central America.

To the CDC and Texas investigators looking into the 2018 case, the possibility was clear that B. pseudomallei may be endemic to the US. They wrote:

The source of this patient’s infection remains unknown. However, genomic analysis showed that the patient isolate groups with existing isolates collected from other patients in the southwestern United States. Isolates TX2004 and TX2018b were collected ≈15 years apart from patients living in the same Texas county at time of illness onset and group together, a finding that suggests B. pseudomallei might be present in the environment in this area.

The investigators were also skeptical of the suggestion that a B. pseudomallei infection might "reactivate," as was the speculation in the 2004 Texas case. "Instead of a 62-year incubation period, the patient infected with TX2004 might have had an unknown local environmental exposure that preceded symptom onset," they wrote. And the investigators suggested that this long incubation idea may have misled previous investigations away from the possibility that the dangerous bacteria may, in fact, be endemic to the US. They noted a melioidosis case reported in 1991 in a patient living in New Mexico, who hadn't left the country in years. Doctors evaluating the patient attributed the infection to an exposure during the Vietnam War, 18 years earlier.
The bottom line

Most importantly, the CDC and Texas investigators concluded that "B. pseudomallei infection should be included in a differential diagnosis for a patient with compatible disease, even without reported travel history."

"Only when B. pseudomallei is isolated from the environment can it be definitively stated that B. pseudomallei is endemic to the continental United States," they note. But, "increased awareness among healthcare workers and diagnostic laboratory personnel for melioidosis as a disease potentially endemic to the southwestern United States is critical to improve case outcomes and prevent laboratory exposures."

The message largely echoes that from a 2015 report, which noted an uptick in melioidosis cases in the US between 2008 and 2013. Though most of the 34 human cases identified in the report were linked to travel, two were not.

"Given the slight increase in the number of melioidosis cases reported since 2009, melioidosis might be considered an emerging disease in the United States," the authors wrote. "Physicians and other health-care personnel should be aware of the increase of cases reported in the United States, especially given the identification of infected persons without travel histories to endemic areas or known risk factors."


BETH MOLE is Ars Technica’s health reporter. She’s interested in biomedical research, infectious disease, health policy and law, and has a Ph.D. in microbiology.EMAIL beth.mole@arstechnica.com // TWITTER @BethMarieMole

 

WHO: BioNTech, Pfizer, Moderna should do more for technology transfer

Jul 2, 2021

© Marcus Brandt/dpa

Geneva (dpa) - The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on BioNTech, Pfizer and Moderna to increase their efforts in order to boost the production of vaccines against Covid-19 around the world.

"I urge those companies like BioNTech, Pfizer and Moderna to share their know-how so that we can speed up the development of new production sites," WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday in Geneva.

"New manufacturing hubs including for mRNA vaccines are developed but this could be accelerated by companies openly sharing technology and know-how," he said.

His comments come as countries debate whether and how to make access to vaccines more equitable, with some calling for patents to be waived while others favour technology transfer.

Poorer countries do not have enough vaccines to inoculate 10 per cent of their populations by the end of September, while wealthy countries are much further ahead, Tedros said.

While governments in these countries are now donating vaccine doses, this is only a drop in the ocean, he said.

Tedros also warned of the dangers of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which is more transmissible.

"We are in a very dangerous period of this pandemic, no country on Earth is out of the woods yet," he said.

The virus is able to mutate in many places where there is a shortage of vaccines, he said.

The Delta variant is now present in at least 98 countries, according to the WHO'S data

 

Gates Earns 10X on BioNTech in Just Two Years: $55m Investment Now Over $550m

TrialSite StaffJuly 2, 2021

As it turns out, the vaccine business has been incredibly lucrative for Bill Gates and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation lately. From one point of view, it’s truly a compelling position to be in, seeking to profit off the business of saving lives. In our system, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with this; in fact, it’s celebrated. And the Gates Foundation should be celebrating as apparently, they have turned the $55 million vaccine investment in BioNTech into $550 million in just a couple of years! That is, they injected $55 million in exchange for pre-IPO equity in the German biotech company, which based on the market capitalization present day is worth north of $550 million. This represents, frankly, a staggering return in the world of drug development that often takes a decade for a return on investment. Of course, the coronavirus vaccines have received enormous government subsidies, albeit the BioNTech and Pfizer partnership, to their credit, took a pass on the Operation Warp Speed clinical development cash injection..

Thanks to some reporting by Nickie Louise writing for Tech Startups, the world can learn a little more about some ingenious investment platform strategies. As it turns out, Gates and Co also possess vested equity in other COVID-19 vaccine makers and therapeutic developers. For example, Ms. Louise writes that Gates took positions in Pfizer, CureVac, and Vir Biotechnology. The reporter found via Fool.com that in 2015, Gates put $52 million into CureVac and thereafter made further bets to progress various mRNA-based vaccines on the CureVac platform.

What a Difference a Couple Years can Make

Gates and Co. first placed the $55 million back in September 2019. Those funds were to help develop HIV and TB programs as well as to further expand the German biotech venture’s infectious disease portfolio. The first $55 million as described in their press release were used to develop preclinical vaccine and immunotherapy candidates targeting HIV and TB infection. The total funding was anticipated to reach $100 million. New infectious disease projects were very much on top of mind as evident in press releases back then.

Now BioNTech’s stock’s at $224 and a market capitalization of $54 billion. The top two institutional holders of the German company’s stock include Scottish Ballie Gifford and Company and Pasadena, CA-based Primecap Management Company, totaling just under 5% between the two of them.

Deep, Integrated Platform Strategy

Gates’ involvement apparently in vaccine research has gone well beyond investment at the early research and development or clinical development stages and crossed into production and commercialization. For example, back in 2015, his organization invested $52 million in not only mRNA-based vaccine development programs with the “potential to revolutionize the prevention of a wide range of infectious diseases “but also a “Good Manufacturing Practice (GM) production facility.”

Move into Vir Biotechnology

Moreover, Gates Foundation took a lead investment role in Vir Biotechnology emphasizing vaccine development. At least one investment totaled $14.8 million. Vir has gone on to see significant success with its monoclonal antibody investigational product in combination with GlaxoSmithKline. On May 26, GSK and Vir Biotechnology shared with the world that their VIR-7831 (Sotrovimab) received an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in high-risk adults and pediatric cases.

Turnaround on Idea of Lifting Vaccine Patent Restrictions

While Gates and Co. were initially resistant to temporarily resisting the lifting of vaccine patent protection for equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines the group apparently changed their position, sharing with the world that the foundation would support this effort floated by the POTUS. Social media was abuzz that Gates “was on the wrong side of history” in this previous position.

Not a Conspiracy

That Gates has earned 10X on the foundation’s money isn’t the result of some nefarious, dark-order orchestrated conspiracy but rather part of a methodical, systematic investment thesis dedicated to monetizing public health. Now, all of this, of course, must unfold in an ethical and lawful manner. As society moves toward a new, heretofore not contemplated reality where billionaires and powerful private equity intermediaries’ movements can shape life as we know it, the endpoints can certainly feel like planned. Yet when combining regulatory capture and evolving corporate crony capitalism (as opposed to dynamic free markets) and well, it’s easy to see how some could mistakenly point to a “conspiracy” when it’s really just representative of an unfolding confluence of interests, marked by a series of coincidences.

Covid 19 coronavirus: Unvaccinated people are 'variant factories', US expert says

3 Jul, 2021 

As of midnight last night, 149,608 doses of vaccine had been administered across New Zealand, while more than 444,000 New Zealanders had received their second dose.
NZ Herald

Unvaccinated people are not only at risk of catching Covid-19 - but also at risk of creating new variants, an infectious disease specialists say.

Unvaccinated people do more than merely risk their own health. They're also a risk to everyone if they become infected with coronavirus, infectious disease specialists said.

"Unvaccinated people are potential variant factories," Dr William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre, told CNN.

"The more unvaccinated people there are, the more opportunities for the virus to multiply," Schaffner added, explaining how the multiplication of the virus can also lead to mutations and the creation of new variants.

"When it does, it mutates, and it could throw off a variant mutation that is even more serious down the road."

While not all mutations result in new variants, the expert explained that some mutations can give the virus an advantage such as better transmissibility and eventually make the virus strong enough to outcompete other viruses.

If a mutant version of a virus becomes strong enough, through multiplication, it becomes its own variant, as it has happened since the start of the pandemic.

"As mutations come up in viruses, the ones that persist are the ones that make it easier for the virus to spread in the population," Andrew Pekosz, a microbiologist and immunologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, also told CNN.

Denise Fogasavaii getting vacinated at a Covid-19 vaccination clinic in Auckland. Photo / Supplied

"Every time the viruses changes, that gives the virus a different platform to add more mutations. Now we have viruses that spread more efficiently."

If a virus is not able to spread, it is not able to mutate into stronger variants.

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the appearance of variants all over the world, starting with the B.1.1.7, or Alpha variant, first spotted in England.

The B.1.351, or Beta variant, first appeared in South Africa, while the Delta Variant, B.1.617.2, was first detected in India.

There have also been new variants appearing first in the US, including the B.1.427 or Epsilon lineage first seen in California, and the B.1.526 or Eta variant first detected in New York.

According to the experts, we've already seen one variant spread further and become more deadly than the original strain of the virus.

The Delta variant, currently spreading around the globe, is set to become the dominant variant, due to its extremely high transmissibility.

The current vaccines being rolled out across the world protect against all the variants so far but experts warn that could change at any moment, if people do not get vaccinated and continue to give the virus the ability to multiply.

"The more we allow the virus to spread, the more opportunity the virus has to change," the World Health Organisation warned last month.

Populations of unvaccinated people, the experts say, give the virus the chance not only to spread but also to mutate, becoming less visible to the immune system.

"All it takes is one mutation in one person," Dr Philip Landrigan, an immunologist at Boston College, said.