Firms that sell price-controlled patent drugs spent $922.9 million on research in Canada in 2021, reported the Patented Medicines Price Review Board. That’s the biggest percentage increase since 2002, though it left research spending well below its $1.325-billion peak in 2007. (The Logic)
General Motors revealed the forecast of its internal electric-van and delivery technology startup, BrightDrop, at its investor day Thursday. The automaker also said it aims to make its North American EV portfolio “solidly profitable” by 2025. (The Logic)
“The financial loss from this investment will have limited impact,” the pension plan said in a release, noting its US$95 million investment in both the troubled Bahamas-based crypto-trading platform and its U.S. arm represents less than 0.05 per cent of its total net assets. (The Logic)
Paul Rivett and Jordan Bitove, co-owners of the company that publishes the Toronto Star, publicly said for the first time that they’re expecting to part ways as business partners during a TVO panel on Thursday evening. “Fifty per cent of marriages don’t work, and that’s what happened to Paul and I,” Bitove said. (Toronto Star)
After new Twitter owner Elon Musk asked workers he hadn’t already laid off to commit to an “extremely hardcore” work life by the end of Thursday or leave with severance, hundreds decided to go. Musk ordered staff back to offices last week but the company closed its physical offices until Monday, possibly fearing sabotage. So many left that some critical parts of Twitter had nobody tending to them any more. (The Logic, The Washington Post)
At an inquiry into the invocation of the Emergencies Act Thursday, senior officials with the Department of Finance defended its use to order financial institutions to freeze the accounts of people involved in the convoy protests against COVID-19 restrictions in early 2022. (The Logic)
The Montreal-based airline said it has provided $6.75 million to the direct-air-capture company as part loan and part equity investment to help Carbon Engineering accelerate building its plants, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (The Logic)
Inovia Capital, a return Symend investor, led the fundraising for the firm, while the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada also participated. Symend offers a platform that interprets customer activity to help companies retrieve overdue payments. (The Logic)
The Detroit automaker will buy battery-grade nickel for about 350,000 electric vehicles annually from the mining giant’s proposed plant in Bécancour, Que. The companies did not disclose the value of the deal. (The Logic)
In a morning session on the second day of the Ottawa event, Dooly CEO Kris Hartvigsen said news of layoffs is, however, less of a surprise now than when his company cut around 10 per cent of its headcount back in August. (The Logic)