Tuesday newspaper round-up: HS2, Johnson & Johnson, Daily Mail
George Osborne’s northern powerhouse thinktank is undertaking its own pro-HS2 review amid concern that the £55.6bn project may be doomed under Boris Johnson’s premiership. The Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) said its study would make sure the region is properly heard ahead of the government’s own “go or no go” review into the high-speed rail line. – Guardian
The pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson ran a “false and dangerous” sales campaign that caused addiction and death as it drove America’s opioid epidemic, an Oklahoma court has ruled in the first judgement of its kind against the drug industry. In a damning 42-page decision, Judge Thad Balkman ruled that the company bore a wide responsibility for helping to create the worst drug epidemic in US history. He said it not only aggressively pushed false claims about the safety and effectiveness of its own narcotic painkillers, but that it changed medical practice with “deceptive” claims intended to break down caution among doctors about prescribing opioids. That included using its huge resources to fund organisations and research to promote narcotics. – Guardian
Small companies are being crippled by an “air-con tax” which means their business rates increase if they install equipment to keep workers cool in the heatwave. The Government is this week being urged to lift the tax after Britain baked in record Bank Holiday temperatures of 33.3C. – Telegraph
The owner of The Daily Mail has cashed in its energy information arm for £300m in the latest stage of a radical pruning that has increased its focus on the tough newspaper market. DMGT announced today that it had sold Genscape, which provides data on oil and gas markets, among other fields of energy, to Wood Mackenzie, the Edinburgh-based consultancy arm of US giant Verisk Analytics. – Telegraph
Industry leaders have attacked “confused” advice on how companies can trade with the European Union after a no-deal Brexit as the government modifies its official guidance. Over the weekend, London and Brussels were forced to clarify information for businesses that export to continental Europe. Officials conceded they “could have been clearer” about what firms need to do before October 31 to continuing supplying customers across the Channel. – The Times
Bristol-Myers Squibb moved a step closer to completing the largest takeover deal in the healthcare industry after Celgene, its target, agreed to sell its blockbuster psoriasis treatment to Amgen for $13.4 billion. Celgene put the treatment, Otezla, up for sale in June to assuage US competition regulators’ concerns that its combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb could give the new company too much power in the market for anti-inflammatory drugs. – The Times