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US trials of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine start

It is hoped that the drug may prevent COVID-19




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Elanco to Buy Bayer's Animal Health Business for $7.6 Billion

Click to view a price quote on ELAN.




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Oxford COVID-19 vaccine programme opens for clinical trial recruitment

University of Oxford researchers working in an unprecedented vaccine development effort to prevent COVID-19 have started screening healthy volunteers (aged 18-55) for their upcoming ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine trial in the Thames Valley Region. The vaccine based on an adenovirus vaccine vector and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is already in production but won’t be ready for some weeks still.




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AstraZeneca and Oxford University announce landmark agreement for COVID-19 vaccine

AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford announced an agreement for the global development and distribution of the University’s potential recombinant adenovirus vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection from SARS-CoV-2.

The collaboration aims to bring to patients the potential vaccine known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, being developed by the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, at the University of Oxford.




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Repurposing existing drugs for COVID-19 offers a more rapid alternative to a vaccine

Repurposing existing medicines focused on known drug targets is likely to offer a more rapid hope of tackling COVID-19 than developing and manufacturing a vaccine, argue an international team of scientists in the British Journal of Pharmacology today.

Since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in late 2019, more than 3.5 million people are known to have been infected, leading to over 240,000 deaths worldwide from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.




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Menarini nabs hematologic malignancy drug along with buy of Stemline

Privately-held pharma and diagnostics firm Menarini Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire…



  • Biotechnology/Companies
  • mergers and acquisitions/Elzonris/Hematology/Italy/Menarini Group/Oncology/One to Watch Companies/Rare diseases/Stemline Therapeutics/USA

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Clinical tests imminent for Junshi's COVID-19 antibody

A new collaboration between Shanghai’s Junshi Biosciences and Eli Lilly will seek to develop novel…



  • Anti-virals/Biotechnology/China/Coronavirus/Drug Trial/Eli Lilly & Company/Focus On/JS016/Junshi Biosciences/Research/USA

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Pfizer and BioNTech move on COVID-19 vaccine work apace

As with other companies, US drug giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech are moving forward their…



  • BioNTech/BNT162/Coronavirus/Drug Trial/Focus On/Pfizer/Pharmaceutical/Research/USA/Vaccines

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Ferring in sight of finish line with first microbiome-based drug

Swiss drugmaker Ferring and its Rebiotix subsidiary have announced a world first with a microbiome-based…



  • Antibiotics and Infectious diseases/Biotechnology/Drug Trial/Ferring Pharmaceuticals/Microbiomes/RBX2660/Rebiotix/Research/Switzerland

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Dr Reddy's gets FDA nod for migraine drug Elyxyb

Shares of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories rose more than 2% to 3,936.35 rupees, after the Indian drugmaker…



  • Analgesia/celecoxib/Dr Reddy's Laboratories/Elyxyb/Focus On/India/Migraine/Neurological/Pharmaceutical/Regulation/US FDA/USA

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Ousted BARDA director pushed back on chloroquine claims and faced whistleblower retaliation, complaint says

After his surprise removal from HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority—a key agency partnered with pharma companies on COVID-19 drugs, vaccines and diagnostics—former Director Rick Bright is alleging whistleblower retaliation by HHS leadership. 




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Pfizer tags 3 U.S. manufacturing sites for possible COVID-19 vaccine launch

Global coronavirus vaccine makers have been rolling out details about their manufacturing and launch plans—even ahead of any clinical data. Now, Pfizer says it will draw on three sites in the U.S., plus one in Belgium, for the early stages of a launch, provided its BioNTech-partnered shot wins a green light.




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FDA commissioner in self-quarantine after exposure to person with COVID-19

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn is in self-quarantine for a couple of weeks after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, an FDA spokesman told Reuters late on Friday.




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Philippines' coronavirus deaths breach 700

The Philippines' health ministry reported on Saturday that coronavirus deaths have reached more than 700.




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LAN Cargo S.A., Aerolinhas Brasileiras S.A. and EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. Agree to Plead Guilty for Fixing Prices on Air Cargo Shipments

Three air cargo carriers, LAN Cargo S.A. (LAN Cargo), Aerolinhas Brasileiras S.A. (ABSA), and EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (EL AL), have each agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines totaling $124.7 million for their roles in a conspiracy to fix prices in the air cargo industry.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Chicago Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Civil Rights of a Man Beaten While Restrained in a Wheelchair

A Chicago police officer pleaded guilty today to violating the federal civil rights of a man whom the officer struck repeatedly with a dangerous weapon while the man was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former NFL Player, Ex-Casino Owner and Nevada Businessman Indicted in Massive Tax Fraud Scheme

A Las Vegas federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Alan Rodrigues, a former pit boss and casino owner from Henderson, Nev.; Weston Coolidge, a businessman from Las Vegas; and Joseph Prokop, a former National Football League punter from Upland, Calif., with a tax fraud scheme for their promotion of a fraudulent tax product through the now defunct National Audit Defense Network (NADN).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Brothers Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Steal Military Optics from U.S. Marine Corps and Export Them Overseas

Timothy Oldani, 24, of Scott Depot, W.Va., and Joseph Oldani, 21, of Camp Lejeune, N.C., both pleaded guilty today in the Southern District of West Virginia to conspiring to steal military optics from the U.S. Marine Corps and illegally export them from the United States.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Federal Court Bars Maine Resident from Preparing Tax Returns for Others

A federal court in Maine has permanently barred Robert A. Grover from preparing federal tax returns for others. The court also ordered the Maine resident to provide his customer lists to the government and to mail copies of the complaint and court order to his customers. Grover consented to the civil injunction order.



  • OPA Press Releases

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U.S. Court Rejects Two Prominent L.A. Real Estate Investors’ Attempt to Use Tax Avoidance Scheme

A federal court in Los Angeles invalidated an abusive tax shelter scheme engaged in by prominent real estate investors James Thomas and Edward Fox. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter also imposed the maximum penalty - forty percent - allowed by the tax code against them.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Wyoming & Kansas Refiners Agree to Settle Clean Air Act Violations

Two petroleum refiners have agreed in separate settlements to spend a total of more than $141 million in new air pollution controls at three refineries in Kansas and Wyoming.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Former Tulsa Businessman Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Receiving Child Pornography

Terry Brian Dobbs, an Oklahoma businessman, was sentenced today to 11 years in prison for receiving images of child pornography. Dobbs, 51, was also sentenced to lifetime supervised release following his term in prison by U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzel, and was ordered to pay an $8,000 fine.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Kellogg Brown & Root LLC Pleads Guilty to Foreign Bribery Charges and Agrees to Pay $402 Million Criminal Fine

Kellogg Brown & Root LLC (KBR), a global engineering, construction and services company based in Houston, pleaded guilty today to charges related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts. The EPC contracts to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities on Bonny Island, Nigeria, were valued at more than $6 billion.



  • OPA Press Releases

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German National Arrested for Smuggling Coral from the Philippines

Gunther Wenzek, a German national, was arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., on a nine count indictment charging him with three felony counts of smuggling protected coral into the United States port of Portland, Ore., three felony counts of violating the Lacey Act and three misdemeanor charges of violating the Endangered Species Act.



  • OPA Press Releases

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U.S. Court Issues Permanent Injunction Order Against Maine Tax Return Preparer

A federal court in Maine permanently barred Donna L. Hamilton from preparing federal tax returns for others. The court also ordered the Maine resident to provide her customer lists to the government and to mail copies of the court order to her customers. Hamilton consented to the civil injunction order.



  • OPA Press Releases

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BP Products to Pay Nearly $180 Million to Settle Clean Air Violations at Texas City Refinery

BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to spend more than $161 million on pollution controls, enhanced maintenance and monitoring, and improved internal management practices to resolve Clean Air Act violations at its Texas City, Texas, refinery.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Shipping Company, Chief Engineer and Second Engineer Indicted for Covering up Pollution

A federal grand jury in Newark, N.J., has returned an eight-count indictment charging a Liberian company that manages an oceangoing bulk carrier vessel, M/V Myron N, along with the ship’s chief engineer and second engineer for covering up discharges of oil-contaminated waste at sea.



  • OPA Press Releases

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60th Felony Conviction Obtained in Software Piracy Crackdown “Operation Fastlink”

The 60th felony conviction from Operation Fastlink, a major Department of Justice initiative to combat online piracy worldwide. Bryan Thomas Black, 30, of Waterloo, Ill., pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal infringement of a copyright for his involvement in a multinational software piracy organization that was targeted by investigators as part of “Operation Fastlink,” an internationally coordinated 18-month investigation.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Chief Engineer Pleads Guilty to Concealing Vessel Pollution

Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen, who was the Chief Engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus, pleaded guilty today to using falsified records that concealed improper discharges of oil-contaminated bilge water from the M/T Nautilus.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Hitachi Displays Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay $31 Million Fine for Participating in LCD Price-Fixing Conspiracy

Japanese electronics manufacturer Hitachi Displays Ltd., agreed to plead guilty and pay a $31 million fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display panels (TFT-LCD) sold to Dell Inc.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Shipping Line Pays $1.4 Million for Environmental Crimes

Holy House Shipping AB, a Swedish corporation, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J., to pay a $1 million fine, a special assessment of $400,000 in community service payments and serve three years of probation for failing to maintain an accurate oil record book in an attempt to conceal illegal discharges of oil-contaminated waste directly into the ocean from one of its ships.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Individual Indicted in Connection with Costa Rica-based Business Opportunity Fraud Ventures

A British citizen was charged in connection with the operation of a series of fraudulent business opportunities on March 10, 2009, by a Miami federal grand jury. Sirtaj Mathauda was indicted on charges that he and his co-conspirators purported to sell vending machine, beverage and greeting card business opportunities, including assistance in establishing, maintaining and operating such businesses. The charges form part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.



  • OPA Press Releases

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General Maritime Management (Portugal) Fined $1 Million for Enviromental Crimes

A federal judge in Corpus Christi, Texas, has sentenced General Maritime Management (Portugal), the operator of a fleet of tanker vessels, and two crewmembers of the motor tanker Genmar Defiance for making false statements to the U.S. Coast Guard and failing to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book designed to prevent pollution of the world’s oceans as required by United States and international law.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Rhode Island Machine Shop Owners Convicted of Tax Fraud

Bruce Lapierre, of Pascoag, R.I., and Albert Martin and Lorraine Martin, both of Woonsocket, R.I., were convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and tax evasion following 2 hours of deliberations and an 8-day trial before Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi in Providence, R.I.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Disaster Fraud Hotline Available to Report Flood-Related Fraud

In response to the Red River flooding in North Dakota and Minnesota and subsequent relief efforts, the National Center for Disaster Fraud is reminding members of the public to be aware of and report any instances of alleged fraudulent activity related to relief operations and funding for victims. Members of the public can report fraud, waste, abuse or allegations of mismanagement involving disaster relief operations through the Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, the Disaster Fraud Fax at 225-334-4707 or the Disaster Fraud e-mail at disaster@leo.gov. Individuals can also report criminal activity to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Two Individuals Convicted on Charges of Conspiracy and Bribery in Connection with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans Levee Reconstruction Project

A former contract employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a dirt, sand and gravel subcontractor were both convicted on charges of conspiracy and bribery in connection with a $16 million hurricane protection project for the reconstruction of the Lake Cataouatche Levee, south of New Orleans.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Ship Operator Pleads Guilty and Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million Fine for Concealing Vessel Pollution

Consultores De Navegacion, a Spanish company that operates the M/T Nautilus, an ocean-going chemical tanker ship, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston and has agreed to pay a fine of $2.5 million for criminal violations related to the overboard discharge of oil-contaminated bilge waste on the high seas.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Virginia Physicist Sentenced to 51 Months in Prison for Illegally Exporting Space Launch Data to China and Offering Bribes to Chinese Officials

A physicist in Newport News, Va., was sentenced to 51 months in prison today for illegally exporting space launch technical data and defense services to the People’s Republic of China and offering bribes to Chinese government officials. Shu Quan-Sheng, 68, a native of China, naturalized U.S. citizen and Ph.D. physicist, was sentenced by Judge Henry C. Morgan, Jr. in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Latin Node Inc., Pleads Guilty to Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Violation and Agrees to Pay $2 Million Criminal Fine

Latin Node Inc. (Latinode), a privately held Florida corporation, pleaded guilty today to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with improper payments in Honduras and Yemen. At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Paul Courtney Huck in the Southern District of Florida, Latinode pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging a criminal violation of the FCPA’s anti-bribery provisions.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Three International Airline Companies Agree to Plead Guilty to Price Fixing on Air Cargo Shipments

Three international airline companies—Luxembourg-based Cargolux Airlines International S.A., Japan-based Nippon Cargo Airlines Co. Ltd. (NCA), and Korea-based Asiana Airlines Inc.—have each agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal fines totaling $214 million for conspiring to fix prices in the air cargo industry. In addition, Asiana was charged with fixing the passenger fares charged on flights from the United States to Korea.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Subsidiaries of Swedish Company, Trelleborg AB, Agree to Plead Guilty and Pay $11 Million in Criminal Fines

Two subsidiaries of the Swedish company Trelleborg AB, one based in Virginia and the other in France, have agreed to plead guilty and pay a total of $11 million in criminal fines for their participation in separate conspiracies affecting the sales of marine products sold in the United States and elsewhere.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Illinois Refuse Container Repair Company Executives Indicted in Conspiracy to Defraud the City of Chicago

A Chicago grand jury indicted the president and vice president of an Illinois refuse disposal container repair company for engaging in a conspiracy and scheme to defraud the city of Chicago on a contract for the repair of refuse carts. This is the first case to be brought in the Department’s ongoing antitrust investigation into the refuse cart repair industry.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Owner of Korean Commercial Cargo Vessel & Chief Engineer Plead Guilty to Marine Pollution Related Charges

STX Pan Ocean Co. Ltd. (STX), headquartered in Seoul, Korea, and the owner of the commercial cargo ship, M/V Ocean Jade, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy as well as falsifying and failing to properly maintain records meant to ensure compliance with maritime pollution laws. The chief engineer of the M/V Ocean Jade, Hong Hak Kang, a Korean citizen, also pleaded guilty today to failing to maintain environmental records and making false statements.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Dutch Airline Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty for Fixing Prices on Air Cargo Shipments

A Dutch citizen and executive of Martinair Holland N.V. (Martinair) has agreed to plead guilty, serve time in jail and pay a criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to fix cargo rates for international air shipments. Including today’s charge, a total of 15 airlines and four executives have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into price fixing in the air transportation industry.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Chinese Baby Furniture Company Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Internationally Protected Wood

Style Craft Furniture Co. Ltd., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J., to one count of smuggling cribs containing internationally protected wood known as “ramin.”



  • OPA Press Releases

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Two South Florida Men Indicted in Connection with Fraudulent ATM Business Opportunity Venture

A Miami federal grand jury has charged two South Florida men with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud in connection with the operation of a fraudulent ATM business opportunity. The criminal charges are part of the government’s continued nationwide crackdown on business opportunity fraud.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Chief Engineer Sentenced for Concealing Vessel Pollution

Carmelo Oria, a Spanish citizen who was the chief engineer on the Cyprus-flagged M/T Nautilus, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts for maintaining inaccurate records that concealed a discharge of oil-contaminated water from the bilges of the M/T Nautilus. Oria was sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by supervised release for a term of two years and a $3,000 fine.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Korean Businessman Indicted in Bribery Conspiracy and Wire Fraud Scheme Involving $206 Million Contract

A South Korean businessman was indicted today for his alleged role in a bribery conspiracy for a $206 million telecommunications contract involving employees of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES).



  • OPA Press Releases

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Novo Nordisk Agrees to Pay $9 Million Fine in Connection with Payment of $1.4 Million in Kickbacks Through the United Nations Oil-for-food Program

Novo Nordisk A/S (Novo), a Danish corporation based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, has agreed to pay a $9 million penalty for illegal kickbacks paid to the former Iraqi government.



  • OPA Press Releases

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Alaska Mine Operators to Pay $883,628 to Resolve Environmental Violations

Alaska Gold Co. (Alaska Gold), and NovaGold Resources Inc. (NovaGold), the owners and operators of the Rock Creek Mine near Nome, Alaska, have agreed to pay a $883,628 civil penalty to resolve violations of a storm water discharge permit.



  • OPA Press Releases