Vaccine news. Merck announced today the purchase of the Austrian laboratory Themis Bioscience, which is working with the Pasteur Institute to develop a vaccine against coronavirus. It also announced a collaboration with a non-profit scientific organization to develop two other vaccines and a partnership with the American biotech Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to develop an antiviral treatment against coronavirus. Meanwhile,  Novavax announced that it has begun a Phase 1 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine candidate and recruited the first participants for this trial, with preliminary results expected in July.

A juicy investment. Sanofi will leave Regeneron's capital without ending the collaboration between the two companies, through a public offer and a buyout of its own shares by the American company. Sanofi owns 20.6% of the capital, currently valued at around $13 billion, but Sanofi will retain around 400,000 shares (less than 1% of the capital). The final terms of exit have yet to be approved, but Sanofi will realize a large capital gain on this bet dating from 2004.

New batteries. Tesla is seeking approval from the Chinese government to build Model 3 equipped with cheaper batteries, Reuters reports.

Rescue authorized. The German government and Lufthansa have reached an agreement on a €9bn rescue plan, which includes an increase in the State's stake to 20% of the capital, a stake that is to be sold by 2023. Germany will buy new shares at €2.56 each. The project has yet to pass the European antitrust test.

Demerger in sight. Siemens intends to retain a 45% stake in its energy subsidiary after a planned demerger by the end of the year, through a distribution of 1 Siemens Energy for 2 Siemens owned. This holding is intended to be reduced progressively.

Missed again. Wirecard has again postponed the publication of its 2019 results, this time to June 18. "As regards the completed parts of the audit procedures, Wirecard has not yet been informed of any significant findings", the company said. The annual general meeting has been postponed to August 26.

Daimler invests. Daimler plans to invest in the IPO of China's Farasis Energy to ensure a stable supply of batteries, according to Reuters. The details of the transaction have not yet been specified, nor the amount. The battery producer has been given the green light to enter the Chinese technology stock market, called Star. Farasis wants to raise $480 million.

Another pitfall. The European antitrust authorities are launching an in-depth investigation into Air Canada's takeover of Transat A.T., which could restrict competition on the Europe / Canada route. Brussels has indicated that while this is an exceptional period for the air transport industry, it has not given up on ensuring healthy competition. In March, the Canadian antitrust authority had also expressed some doubts.

In other news. Yesterday, Bayer AG soared by almost 8% thanks to the prospects of an amicable settlement of some of the Roundup-related complaints in the United States. HSBC could toughen its restructuring plan, the Financial Times warns. Wharf, the Hong Kong conglomerate, is recovering $944 million by selling shares in Amazon.com and Facebook. Latam Airlines in turn is bankrupt. Burkhalter maintains its dividend proposal of CHF 3.70 per share.