GSK shows 'positive' data from phase III trial on RSV candidate, Apax Global Alpha fund sells controlling stake in MyCase

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 50.5 points lower ahead of the bell on Friday after closing 1.54% weaker in the previous session at 7,476.21.

Stocks to watch

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said on Friday that its vaccine for respiratory virus had shown "statistically significant and clinically meaningful" efficacy in adults aged 60 years and above in a phase three trial.

GSK stated the primary endpoint of the trial was "exceeded with no unexpected safety concerns observed" and that it would now commence talks with regulators to immediately start with anticipated regulatory submissions in the second half of 2022.

Investment outfit Apax Global Alpha revealed on Friday that the Apax X Fund, in which it is a limited partner, had sold its controlling stake in MyCase to AffiniPay.

Apax said the sale of MyCase, which provides cloud-based legal practice management software and payment services, valued AGA's current look-through investment in the portfolio company at approximately €22.5m, representing an uplift of roughly €7.3m in the adjusted net asset value of AGA as of 31 March.

Newspaper round-up

Rishi Sunak has been accused of wasting £11.0bn of taxpayers' money by paying too much in interest servicing the government's debt. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said the losses were the result of the chancellor's failure to insure against interest rate rises on £900.0bn of reserves created through the quantitative easing programme. - Guardian

Legal bills relating to the Grenfell Tower fire are on course to top a quarter of a billion pounds, according to figures obtained by the Guardian on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the disaster. The public inquiry into the causes of the fire that killed 72 people in the west London tower block has spent £149.0m so far with more than £60.0m going to lawyers working for the core participants, the inquiry revealed on Thursday. - Guardian

Supermarkets and restaurants are threatened with steak shortages as the surging cost of fertiliser and feed forces beef farmers to slaughter animals early. Meat processors warned that households will be forced to opt for cheaper cuts of meat such as mince as farmers cut back on fertiliser needed to grow grass for their cows. - Telegraph

A Swedish sex toy designer has scrapped plans to float on the London Stock Exchange. Stockholm-based Lelo has now started looking for a buyer instead after market volatility scuppered plans for a public offering. Lelo has attracted takeover interest from both corporate buyers and private equity funds. - Telegraph

Companies would be criminally liable for fraud and computer misuse committed by senior executives under proposals laid out today by the government's law reform advisers. The Law Commission is calling for a new offence of "failure to prevent fraud by an employee or agent". The legislation would apply when a company had not ensured that appropriate measures were in place to prevent their employees or those acting on behalf of the business from committing a fraud for the benefit of the company. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were sharply in the red at the close of trading on Thursday ahead of Friday's hotly-anticipated inflation reading.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.94% at 32,272.79, while the S&P 500 was 2.38% weaker at 4,017.82 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.75% softer at 11,754.23.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com