Gatofuns

Biotech startup Vaccitech Plc, which owns the technology behind the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc , filed for a US initial public offering. The British company plans to list the American depositary shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol "VACC". Vaccitech's revenue dropped about 30% to $4.8 million in the year ended Dec. 31, even as its net loss narrowed to $17.9 million from $22.7 million due to lower research and development expenses. The company noted in a filing that based on its understanding, it would not be entitled to receive any royalties or payments from sub-licensees from the commercialization of the AstraZeneca vaccine until after the pandemic is over. Vaccitech's preference for a U.S. listing to one in the UK could further undermine London's attempts to become a major financial hub, particularly after Brexit. The company is co-founded by Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, who … [Read more...] about Vaccitech, startup behind Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, files for US IPO

Apple is refusing to testify at an upcoming U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on competition issues related to mobile app stores, the bipartisan leaders of the panel said on Friday. App makers long have accused Apple's App Store for iPhones and iPads, along with Google 's Play store for Android devices, of engaging in anticompetitive behavior by requiring certain revenue sharing payments and setting strict inclusion rules. A subcommittee hearing was being planned for late April but no date has been set yet. Senators Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, and Mike Lee, a Republican, said they wrote to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook on Friday urging the company to reconsider. "A little more than two weeks before the planned hearing, Apple abruptly declared that it would not provide any witness," the letter said. "Apple's sudden change in course to refuse to provide a witness to testify...is unacceptable." Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Apple and … [Read more...] about US senators criticise Apple for not testifying on antitrust concerns

Chinese regulators have fined Alibaba Group Holding Ltd 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) for violating anti-monopoly rules and abusing its dominant market position, marking the highest ever antitrust fine to be imposed in the country. The penalty, equivalent to around 4% of Alibaba's revenues in 2019, comes amid an unprecedented regulatory crackdown on the home-grown technology conglomerates in the last few months that have weighed on company shares. Alibaba's billionaire founder Jack Ma's business empire has been particularly put under intense scrutiny after his stinging criticism of China's regulatory system in late October. In late December, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced it launched an antitrust probe into the company. That came after authorities halted a planned $37 billion IPO from Ant Group , Alibaba's internet finance arm. SAMR said on Saturday that after an investigation launched in December, it had determined that Alibaba … [Read more...] about Why Alibaba has been fined record $2.75 billion by China

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has slammed the new ad tracking method by Google , saying it is bad for privacy and puts the users in a group based on their browsing history, and any website can get that group ID to target and fingerprint them. Google has announced FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) technology to provide a more privacy-focused way to track users and serve ads to them. The company will put FLoC in Chrome and automatically turned it on for millions of users. According to its rival DuckDuckGo that has surpassed 100 million daily search queries, if you're a Google Chrome user, you might be surprised to learn that you could have been entered automatically into Google's new tracking method. "It groups you based on your interests and demographics, derived from your browsing history, to enable creepy advertising and other content targeting without third-party cookies," the company said in a statement on Friday. "After a short trial period, … [Read more...] about DuckDuckGo doesn’t want you to use Google Chrome, here’s why

Social media company Facebook Inc suspended 16,000 accounts for selling or buying fake reviews of products and services on its platforms, after the Britain 's competition watchdog intervened for the second time, the regulator said. U.S.-based Facebook also made further changes to detect, remove and prevent paid content which could mislead users on its platforms, including popular photo-sharing app Instagram, UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Friday. "We have engaged extensively with the CMA to address this issue. Fraudulent and deceptive activity is not allowed on our platforms, including offering or trading fake reviews," a Facebook representative said. The CMA began a crackdown on false reviews from 2019 when it first asked Facebook and e-commerce platform eBay Inc to check their websites after it found evidence of a growing marketplace for misleading customer reviews on the platforms. Facebook has also been under scrutiny by the CMA for … [Read more...] about Facebook suspends 16,000 accounts for trading fake reviews