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

Key takeaways from Keir Starmer’s action plan for AI

The UK government has unveiled a wide-ranging action plan to boost the country’s role in developing and deploying artificial intelligence. The 50 recommendations from the report, written by the tech investor Matt Clifford, have been endorsed by Keir Starmer, who says the technology will drive “incredible change in our country”.Here are the plan’s key points:Ministers want to ensure that the UK is able to produce its own AI models – the technology that underpins tools such as the ChatGPT chatbot. To that end, the plan recommends a 20-fold increase in the amount of AI computing power under public control by 2030. This will include building a brand new “supercomputer” at a location to be decided

Apple asks investors to block proposal to scrap diversity programmes

Apple has asked shareholders to vote against a proposal to scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, as tech rivals scale back similar schemes before Donald Trump’s return to the White House.The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative thinktank, wants the iPhone maker to end its DEI efforts because they expose companies to “litigation, reputational and financial risks”. The proposal will be voted on at Apple’s annual general meeting on 25 February.In a notice to shareholders, Apple’s board has recommended investors vote against the proposal because, it says, it already has the right compliance procedures to deal with any risks and because the proposal “inappropriately attempts to restrict Apple’s ability to manage its own ordinary business operations, people and teams, and business strategies”.DEI schemes are sets of measures designed to make people of all backgrounds – regardless of ethnicity, class, sexuality and gender – feel supported and included in the workplace

Joe Marler to lead talks with RFU and clubs over England player welfare

Joe Marler has revealed he has been appointed to lead discussions with the Rugby Football Union and the Premiership clubs over the welfare of England players, claiming that Test stars were previously “not looked after”.Marler, who brought an end to his England career during the autumn internationals before retiring for good in November, has been appointed to a new role as performance director for Team England Rugby (TER).TER is an organisation set up by England players to negotiate with the RFU after the decision was made to break away from the Rugby Players’ Association. Much of Marler’s focus will be on players exceeding the maximum game time – reduced to 30 match involvements as part of the Professional Game Partnership which came into effect this season.With the British & Irish Lions tour of Australia taking place this summer, a host of England players are on course to exceed the limit with Marler expressing concern that “so many” will require exemptions to continue playing

Ronnie O’Sullivan says he ‘lost the plot’ before pulling out of Masters defence

Ronnie O’Sullivan has called his withdrawal from this year’s Masters event “a nightmare decision”, adding that he “lost the plot” and broke his cue in half before dropping out of last week’s Championship League.Speaking in his role as a pundit on Eurosport, O’Sullivan said: “It was a nightmare decision, really, to make. If you’d asked me Sunday if I was ready to play, I probably would have been OK to play, but it’s such a massive tournament.”O’Sullivan withdrew from his Masters title defence on Friday on medical grounds, after struggling at Thursday’s Championship League event in Leicester. The current world No 3 lost three of his first four matches before pulling out of his final group game, amid reports he had thrown his cue in the bin