COVID 19
Early
peek at data on Gilead coronavirus drug suggests patients are responding to
treatment
Adam Feuerstein and Matthew Herper, April
16, 2020, STAT
A Chicago hospital treating severe Covid-19 patients with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral medicine remdesivir in a closely watched clinical trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week, STAT has learned.
Remdesivir was one of the first medicines identified as having the potential to impact SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, in lab tests. The entire world has been waiting for results from Gilead’s clinical trials, and positive results would likely lead to fast approvals by the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies. If safe and effective, it could become the first approved treatment against the disease.
OIL
Trump
administration working to ease drilling industry cash crunch
Timothy Gardner, Reuters, April 17, 2020
The Trump administration is seeking to ease a severe cash crunch in the drilling industry by raising loan limits available under a coronavirus stimulus package and by barring lenders from discriminating against drillers, according to Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette. The measures come as oil and gas companies working in shale basins from Texas to Wyoming struggle to stave off bankruptcy due to a meltdown in global oil prices after governments around the world issued stay-at-home orders that have obliterated demand for fuel.
MINING
Doyon
nabs major stake in tectonic metals
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, April 17, 2020
In an unprecedented deal that offers a bit of good news for gold exploration in Alaska, Doyon Ltd. has invested US$1.5 million (C$2.1 million) to acquire a 16.1% strategic ownership of Tectonic Metals Inc., a junior exploration company currently advancing three gold projects in eastern Alaska.
Miners
to help support American economy
Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News, April 17, 2020
Looking “to chart the path forward toward a future of unparalleled American prosperity” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump has pulled together a wide array of business and thought leaders into various “Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups.” National Mining Association President and CEO Rich Nolan was named among the esteemed leaders to the United States economic recovery group.
POLITICS
Signs
of progress on money for small business loans
Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross, Politico, April 17,
2020
THERE HAS BEEN SOME MOVEMENT ON A DEAL to refill the PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM, the main federal vehicle for loans to small businesses walloped by the coronavirus crisis. Capitol Hill sources stress that it is the TRUMP ADMINISTRATION doing the heavy lifting talking to Democrats at the moment, and it will be incumbent upon the WHITE HOUSE and the administration to sell this deal to every lawmaker in both chambers, since this will probably require unanimous consent. HERE ARE SOME INITIAL ITEMS IN THE MIX … NOTHING IS FINAL! This is an update about a few points that are under discussion:
THE PPP will be refilled. Republicans are now aiming for more than $251 billion. DEMOCRATS ARE MOVING TOWARD GETTING MONEY for community banks … THE DEAL IS ALMOST CERTAIN TO INCLUDE a refresh of the EIDL, another disaster loan program.