GSK to buy US cancer drug firm IDRx for up to $1.15bn

GSK has struck a deal worth up to $1.15bn (£950m) to acquire a Massachusetts-based developer of rare cancer therapies, in an attempt to bolster its expanding oncology business.GSK, Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker behind AstraZeneca, said the acquisition of IDRx, based in Plymouth near Boston, would help it target a “major gap in the current standard of care” related to gastrointestinal cancers.The company, which was set up two and a half years ago, is working on treatments for gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST), a rare cancer that develops in the digestive system, and is diagnosed in 80,000 to 120,000 new patients worldwide each year. Two-fifths of cases are driven by mutations in the KIT gene that lead to the growth of tumour cells, most commonly in the stomach or small intestine

Ryanair calls for limit of two alcoholic drinks at airports in Europe

Ryanair wants a limit of two alcoholic drinks at airports, as the airline released further details of legal action to recover €15,000 (£12,615) in costs related to a diversion it said was caused by an allegedly disruptive passenger.The airline has called on European authorities to bring in new curbs on alcohol to stop passengers getting drunk before boarding a plane.Airlines reserve the right to deny boarding to anyone they deem to be excessively intoxicated. However, Ryanair now wants airports to require boarding passes be shown when passengers purchase alcohol at airport bars and pubs as they are in duty free shops.“We fail to understand why passengers at airports are not limited to two alcoholic drinks (using their boarding pass in exactly the same way they limit duty free sales), as this would result in safer and better passenger behaviour on board aircraft, and a safer travel experience for passengers and crews all over Europe,”the airline said on Monday

Pound hits 14-month low against dollar as CBI hits out over ‘hole in confidence’

The head of Britain’s biggest lobby group has accused the government of damaging business “confidence and trust”, as the pound hit a new 14-month low against the US dollar.Rupert Soames, the chair of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), criticised the measures being introduced by the government.Sterling fell by a cent, or 0.8%, against the dollar to a low of $1.21 on Monday, the lowest since the start of November 2023

Things aren’t all bad: hail the UK customer service heroes of 2024

It’s the bad news that tends to capture newspaper headlines and my consumer column is devoted to misery. Spend a year in my shoes and you’ll assume that UK traders are a cartel of con artists. “Broken Britain” is the conclusion of readers who comment. This can be misleading: companies that get it right aren’t a story and most businesses are ­probably delivering what they are paid to do much of the time.Meanwhile, eclipsed by the ­baddies, there are firms that have twigged that customers are not ­commodities but cherished individuals whose loyalty is priceless

Business confidence falling in UK and eurozone, recruiters warn

Recruitment companies have warned about declining confidence across Europe and the UK, as political uncertainty adds to concerns about economic growth.The FTSE 250 recruiter PageGroup said on Monday that profits had dropped by nearly a quarter in Germany and 17% in France during the last three months of 2024, compared with the same period in 2023. Its UK profits fell by 14%, as companies grew more nervous about taking on new staff.Morgan McKinley, another British recruiter, said the number of job openings in London’s financial services sector dropped by 12% year on year in the final quarter of 2024.The recruiters’ gloom will add to concerns about the prospects for the economies of the eurozone, and the UK

Tax rises will push business leaders to cut costs and hiring, surveys show

Business leaders plan to cut costs and rein in hiring in response to government tax increases set out in the autumn budget, with employment expectations taking the sharpest tumble since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.A net two-thirds of finance directors said they did not expect to increase hiring levels this year, a four-year high, with a net 26% feeling more pessimistic about the prospects for their business than three months ago, the first time sentiment had slipped into negative territory in 18 months, according to the latest survey by the accountancy firm Deloitte.More than half of finance directors rated cutting costs as their top priority – something that has not changed in almost a year. They said this would be their main response to increased national insurance costs for employers followed by raising productivity and then higher prices for customers.A similar sentiment emerged in the advisory firm BDO’s employment index, which hit a 12-year low in December, amid declining vacancies and payrolled employee numbers