Tag: business

  • Tobacco at Forefront of Closing Gender Pay Gap

    Tobacco at Forefront of Closing Gender Pay Gap

    Photo: Fokussiert

    Tobacco and alcohol companies are at the forefront of closing the gender pay gap, reports MSN, citing a study of major U.K. companies.

    While typically shunned by ethical investors, these so-called sin companies are contributing more to gender equity than some of their less controversial counterparts.

    BAT, for example, is going beyond the call of duty on gender pay, according to the research. Other top performers in this field include Guinness owner Diageo, Reckitt and Unilever.

    Across the board, the gender pay gap remains stuck at 9.4 percent in favor of men—the same as five years ago when firms first had to publish figures.

    All sectors continue to pay men more than women, but some are worse than others, with banking and finance, construction and education among the biggest offenders.

    U.K. firms, charities and public sector departments that have 250 staff or more must publish their gender pay gap on a government website.

  • PMI, Medicago Cut Ties After WHO Rejection

    PMI, Medicago Cut Ties After WHO Rejection

    Credit: Antonioguillem

    Philip Morris International and the health group Medicago have severed ties after the World Health Organization rejected Medicago’s Covid-19 vaccine, according to a tobacco control body.

    Covifenz, the world’s first plant-based Covid-19 vaccine, was jointly developed by Medicago, which is owned by Mitsubishi Chemical, Philip Morris and Glaxo, according to Bloomberg. The Canadian government, which provided $173 million in funding for its development, has cleared it for use.

    The government of Quebec previously said it wanted to help Medicago replace its shareholder PMI with another investor so that the biotech firm can distribute its Covifenz Covid-19 vaccine internationally.

    “Tobacco corporations, vaccines and governments don’t mix well, and we applaud the expulsion of Philip Morris from the Medicago collaboration,” Les Hagen, the executive director of not-for-profit organization ASH Canada, said in a statement. 

    Medicago’s request for an emergency-use listing was denied earlier this year by the World Health Organization because of the links with tobacco industry.

    Earlier this year, Medicago announced it would cut 62 jobs at its manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina, USA, which played a key role in producing the company’s tobacco plant-based Covid-19 vaccine.