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PHARMACEUTICAL

AstraZeneca payout resolves US tax dispute

Anglo-Swedish pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca said Monday it had settled a tax dispute with US authorities by agreeing on a net payment of $1.1 billion.

Published: 28 March 2011 10:13 CEST

AstraZeneca additionally raised its 2011 earnings target after also securing a lower tax rate and being able to free up some of the $2.3 billion it had set aside as tax provisions, it said in a group statement.

The company said it would release some of the excess provisions, resulting in a net gain to the company’s first-quarter earnings of $500 million.

AstraZeneca added that it was now targeting full-year core earnings per share of up to $7.20 from a previous estimate of $6.75, according to the statement.

Resolution of the tax dispute came after British and US government fiscal authorities agreed to the terms of a pricing agreement for AstraZeneca’s US business for a 13-year period from 2002 to the end of 2014.

AstraZeneca added that it had reached agreement with the US tax authorities on a related valuation matter arising on integration of its US businesses in 2000 after the 1999 merger of Swedish group Astra and British company Zeneca.

“Based on these agreements, AstraZeneca now expects to pay a net amount of $1.1 billion to resolve all US transfer pricing and related valuation matters for all periods from 2000 to the end of 2010,” the group said in its statement.

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VACCINE

Danish engineers first to be jabbed under voluntary vaccine scheme

Twenty employees of the Danish engineering firm Lowenco, together with their boss Mikael Hoier, on Sunday became the first people to be given the Johnson & Johnson vaccine under Denmark’s new optional vaccination scheme.

Published: 24 May 2021 19:03 CEST
Danish engineers first to be jabbed under voluntary vaccine scheme
Practio co-founder Jonas Nilsen said that the employees had all been given detailed adviuce before they were given the jab. Photo: Practio

The group wanted to get vaccinated so that they can travel to India to install 20 freezers at a vaccine factory.

“It went pretty well, pretty calm and then a little prick,” Hoier, director of Lowenco, told state broadcaster DR.

After undergoing a medical consultation on Saturday, the group were given the green light to get vaccinated on Sunday.

“They all had many questions about potential side effects and the pros and cons of receiving the vaccine,” said Jonas Nilsen, a doctor and co-founder of Practio, which has been given the task of vaccinating Danes under the new optional scheme.

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After thinking over the decision overnight, two of the company’s employees opted against receiving the vaccine. 

“That is absolutely OK by me. It’s a personal decision and it won’t go against them,” Hoier said. 

Practio doctors advised the company to delay their departure to India to the end of this week, so the vaccine has more time to take effect, and they do not suffer complications during their trip.

“There is a chance that someone will be affected by side effects such as headaches, fever and soreness shortly after being injected,” he said.

Sunday’s vaccinations were carried out at Sønderbro Apotek in Copenhagen, and from Monday, vaccinations will be given at Practio’s own vaccine site in Copenhagen, where up to 5,000 people can be vaccinated a day.

The company plans to soon open vaccination centres in Roskilde, Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg. 

On Sunday, Nilsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that more than 20,000 people in Denmark had already put themselves down on the list for an optional vaccination, and said that his company is capable of treating about 70,000 vaccination patients a day. 

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