New Covid-19 contracts. Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline signed agreements with the Government of Canada for the supply of their Covid-19 vaccine. Up to 72 million doses will be made available. This adjuvanted vaccine could be available by the end of the first half of 2021, if all regulatory and clinical milestones are met.

J&J’s progress. Johnson & Johnson announced that it began testing its experimental single-injection VID-19 vaccine on 60,000 people.  The stock grew by more than 2 percent in pre-market trading.

Just did it. Nike surged 13 percent out of session after better-than-expected quarterly results. Goldman Sachs raised its target from $126 to $140 by including the stock in its list of buy convictions.

Not offensive enough. Elon Musk promises a Tesla at $25,000 thanks to lower battery prices. On the other hand, the battery strategy day did not produce the announcements anticipated by the market, which led to a sharp decline in the stock. 

Win-win. Ford will invest in two electric car plants in Canada. The agreement has been negotiated with the Unifor union, and provides for $1.5 billion in investments.

A step towards the merger. AMS AG finalizes its takeover of Osram. AMS is offering EUR 44.65 per outstanding Osram share and an annual compensation payment of EUR 2.24 per share.

Strong demand. Microsoft and its distributors experience some problems with pre-orders for its new Xbox, due to high demand. Sony had also had some problems with bookings for its PS5 a few days ago.

An antiviral treatment in sight. Fujifilm announces that the antiviral Avigan has met its Phase III targets for the treatment of moderate cases of Covid-19 and that a marketing application will be filed in October. The study showed that those treated with Avigan experienced improvement after 11.9 days compared to 14.7 days for a placebo group. Avigan is an old treatment and is already used for coronavirus in some countries, such as Russia.

In other news. United Wholesale Mortgage merges with Gores SPAC and goes public. Ralph Lauren will eliminate approximately 15% of its workforce, following the decline in sales related to coronavirus. Carnival will cut about 100 seagoing officer positions after the decision to divest 18 of its oldest vessels. Laird Superfood, a company backed by Danone's private equity fund, is entering the US stock market at the upper end of the expected range. Yandex is negotiating the purchase of TCS Group for $5.48 billion. Relief Therapeutics seeks emergency approval from the FDA for aviptadil against Covid-19 in respiratory patients.