THE DAILY BRIEFING

DRUG FLOP An £820m bet on healthcare company Roivant Sciences by Softbank was dealt a blow after its subsidiary Axovant announced its treatment for Alzheimer’s disease did not work.

EXPERT HELP The US Securities

and Exchange Commission has brought in tech experts to bolster its defences, after it revealed last week that it was hit by a serious cyber attack in 2016.

LENDER OPEN Peer-to-peer lender Zopa plans to start accepting investors’ cash again later this year following a six-month pause.

STAFF THREAT Swiss lender UBS has threatened to move a ‘significant’ number of staff out of Britain if no Brexit transition deal has been agreed by March.

RAIL LOAN Finance company Legal & General has lent £120m to a consortium buying the high-speed rail line linking London to the Channel Tunnel.

BROWNED OFF British beauty firm Innovaderma will launch its Skinny Tan self-tanning product in pharmacies across the Republic of Ireland later this year.

PANEL PLACE Troubled construction group Interserve has won a place on a Government panel of builders bidding to develop £8bn worth of housing and mixed-use infrastructure.

FLIGHT WIFI Satellite firm Inmarsat has a won a contract with Malaysian airline Air Asia Group for its in-flight broadband to be used on more than 120 Airbus aircraft.

BOSS RETIRES Bruce Thompson has announced he will retire as chief executive of technical products conglomerate Diploma before the end of September next year.

PHARMA SURGE Drug firm

Circassia Pharmaceuticals, which focuses on respiratory diseases, saw first-half revenues jump 65pc to £18.3m, boosted by strong sales of its Niox asthma treatment.

BAD CONNECTIONS Tainted auditor KPMG has lost its contract with the South African parliament following a scandal over its links to the country’s wealthy Gupta family, who are accused of wrongly influencing government contracts.

BANK BOOST Rating agency Moody’s has upgraded the creditworthiness of Lloyds Bank following its return to the private sector.