Thursday newspaper round-up: Covid contracts, Indivior, KPMG, Glaxo

(Sharecast News) - The government has been urged to publish details of up to £2bn in Covid-19 contracts awarded to private healthcare companies, including some that have helped fund the Conservative party. Contracts to provide extra capacity during the pandemic have been handed to 17 firms since March 2020. - Guardian

Indivior faces the threat of a shareholder revolt over the drugmaker's decision to maintain bonus payments for its British former chief executive, who was jailed last year in a case related to the US opioid crisis. Shaun Thaxter, 53, was sentenced to six months in federal prison in the US state of Virginia last October and agreed to pay $600,000 (£432,000) in fines and forfeiture, after pleading guilty in June to federal charges related to Indivior's Suboxone Film, used to help reduce withdrawal symptoms in recovering opioid addicts. He is due to be released on 10 May. - Guardian

KPMG has told its 16,000 UK staff that they can knock off early one day a week over summer as the firm embraces flexible working in the wake of Covid. The Big Four consultant is giving employees two and a half hours off each week until the end of August to support their wellbeing and allow them to "re-energise" after working on intense and stressful projects during the pandemic. - Telegraph

Ministers are exploring the creation of a national stockpile of so-called rare earth metals amid rising fears that Britain's efforts to adopt electric cars are at risk from a Chinese stranglehold on supplies. It is understood that officials at the Department for Business are discussing options to protect the UK's access to vital materials including lithium and cobalt, which are essential for batteries and part of a global commodity prices boom as expectation rise for massive demand. - Telegraph

The chairman of GlaxoSmithKline has sought to ease the pressure on its chief executive by throwing his weight behind her in the face of investor unease about her strategy. Sir Jonathan Symonds used the pharmaceutical giant's annual shareholder meeting yesterday to give a public show of support for Dame Emma Walmsley, who has faced questions about her overhaul of the company. He praised her "bold and courageous" leadership of the business and signalled that he expected the chief executive to stay in place for years to come. - The Times