Novo Nordisk's IL-6 drug flunks two more heart trials

 Novo Nordisk has opted to discontinue two late-stage trials of IL-6 inhibitor ziltivekimab in heart failure, after an interim look at the data suggested they would be unlikely to show a positive result.

The revelation – first reported by Endpoints – affects the placebo-controlled HERMES and ATHENA trials of ziltivekimab in patients with heart failure and inflammation, and comes after Novo Nordisk reported disappointing top-line results from the ZEUS trial in August.

It is a setback for the Danish drugmaker, which has been trying to diversify its pipeline beyond its core areas of diabetes, obesity, and rare diseases.

HERMES and ATHENA were hoping to show that dampening down the inflammatory response in heart failure patients with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction would improve outcomes like time to first cardiovascular death, heart failure hospitalisation, urgent heart failure visits, and quality of life. ZEUS, meanwhile, was run in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) compounded by chronic kidney disease (CKD) and inflammation.

The news means that Novo Nordisk has only one remaining shot on goal with ziltivekimab in the form of the ARTEMIS trial, which is putting the drug through its paces as an acute treatment in the post-myocardial infarction setting, with results due next year.

It also increases the pressure on Novo Nordisk to carry out licensing deals and/or acquisitions to bolster its pipeline outside obesity and diabetes, which has been driving growth in recent years, but where it is facing increasing pressure from rival Eli Lilly.

Novo Nordisk acquired ziltivekimab as part of its $725 million takeover of AstraZeneca spin-out Corvidia Therapeutics in 2020.

Data backs GLP-1 agonist semaglutide in children

Returning to its main franchise of GLP-1 agonist therapies, Novo Nordisk reported better news this morning from the STEP Young trial of semaglutide in children aged six to under 12 years old with class II or III severe obesity.

The trial met its primary endpoint, with a weekly subcutaneous injection of semaglutide helping 40% of children reduce their BMI below the threshold for obesity at 68 weeks, compared to 0% of the placebo group, with a safety profile consistent with older patients.

The data comes as researchers at NYU Langone Health in the US have published a study in the journal Paediatrics, showing a 300-fold increase in prescribing of GLP-1 agonists to children under 12 between 2019 and 2026, although rates of prescribing remained low, at less than 1%.

Around one in five children in the US are living with obesity, meaning their BMI is above the 95th percentile for children of similar age and sex, without having diabetes. Children living with obesity experience cardiovascular disease risk factors, alongside depression, eating disorders, and bullying, with studies showing that their quality of life is comparable to children undergoing cancer treatment.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/novo-nordisks-il-6-drug-flunks-two-more-heart-trials

Iran-backed Houthis’ attacks disrupt some energy operations in Saudi Arabia

 

Attacks on energy facilities and utilities in southern Saudi Arabia caused fires and temporarily halted some operations, the Saudi Energy Ministry said on Tuesday.

The ministry said several Saudi citizens and foreign residents sustained injuries of varying severity. Emergency teams were containing the fires, securing the sites and assessing the damage.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202609082306

Canadian court orders visa decision for former Bushehr nuclear plant manager

 Canada’s Federal Court has ordered the government to decide within 60 days on a visitor visa application from a former project manager at Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant after the case remained in security screening for more than 900 days.

Naser Mansoursharifloo, an Iranian citizen, applied for the visa in January 2024. About six weeks later, government records marked his case as “approved pending info from partners,” but no final decision followed for more than two years.

By the time the case reached a court hearing in August, the application had spent about 911 days in security screening, far longer than government processing estimates for Iranian visitor visas during the period.

Mansoursharifloo holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and previously worked as a project manager at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. He also served as head of engineering at Islamic Azad University in central Tehran, according to the court.

The court said the government had not provided enough evidence to explain why the screening had taken so long. It ordered authorities to make a decision within 60 days of the September 1 ruling.

The order does not require Canada to approve Mansoursharifloo’s visa and the court did not find that he was inadmissible. It only requires the government to make a decision.

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  Canada vows action against transnational repression after Iran threats

Canada steps up action against Iranian officials

The case comes amid a broader push by Canada to keep out or remove former senior officials of the Islamic Republic, particularly people whose past government roles could make them inadmissible under Canadian law.

Ottawa moved in 2022 to bar senior Iranian government officials from entering or remaining in Canada after the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on nationwide anti-establishment protests.

Canada has since pursued a number of cases involving former Iranian officials already in the country, while immigration authorities have increased scrutiny of applicants with backgrounds in Iranian government institutions.

Canada also listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity in 2024, adding another layer to its increasingly confrontational approach toward people and institutions tied to the Islamic Republic.

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  Canada says ex-Iranian official 'critical' to revenue tied to terror funding

Former officials face deportation cases

In one recent case, Canadian authorities are seeking to deport Abbas Omidi, a former senior official in Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade who lives in Toronto.

Canadian government documents reported by Global News said Omidi had played a significant role in Iran’s mining sector and that revenue generated by the sector helped support the Iranian government, its military and the IRGC.

Omidi acknowledged during his deportation proceedings that he had served as a deputy director general in the ministry but said his position was mainly technical.

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  Canada deports former Iranian official linked to 2019 protest crackdown

The Canada Border Services Agency is seeking his removal on the grounds that he served as a senior Iranian government official.

Canada has also pursued other former officials under measures introduced after 2022, including people connected to Iranian state institutions and security bodies.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202609075913

Novartis falls 10% after drug trial setbacks

 The shares of the Swiss pharmaceutical corporation Novartis AG fell by more than 10% on Tuesday following three back-to-back clinical trial setbacks for key experimental drugs.

A late-stage trial of del-desiran, an experimental treatment for a rare muscle-wasting disease, failed to show a statistically significant improvement over placebo. Trials of the experimental heart drug pelacarsen also failed to demonstrate the expected benefit. Separately, the company paused development of an experimental cell therapy after patient deaths, adding further uncertainty to its pipeline.

Novartis' stock plummeted by 10.20% to go for CHF 112.6 at 9:17 am CET.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Novartis-falls-10-after-drug-trial-setbacks/67061826

'China pushes wider AI access for Global South'

 Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Tuesday that Beijing is expanding access to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and services as part of its AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All, with a focus on supporting Global South countries.

Mao pointed to measures including the establishment of the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), an independent intergovernmental body launched in Shanghai in July by 29 countries, and efforts to help countries develop AI models suited to their own needs. "We stand ready to work with all parties to ensure that AI delivers sustained value and becomes an important driving force for enhancing the well-being of all humanity," she said.

Her remarks came as Beijing hosted a new AI capacity-building workshop attended by representatives from 37 countries, including Russia, Brazil, Serbia, South Africa, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/China-pushes-wider-AI-access-for-Global-South/67062396

Why Won't China Cut Ukraine Off From Drone-Related Sales?

  by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

Indefinitely perpetuating the Ukrainian Conflict through these means indefinitely delays the full implementation of the US' planned "Pivot (back) to (East) Asia", can lead to Russia selling its natural resource wealth to China at bargain-basement prices, and maintains China's "active neutrality".

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) referenced the EU's summertime disbursement of the first €1 billion to Ukraine for drone procurement out of the €6 billion promised for this program in an article late last month about how "Ukraine's Drone War Exposes An Uncomfortable Reliance On China". They drew attention to the carve-out allowing Ukraine to purchase Chinese parts with these funds, ergo the politically incorrect observation back then that "The EU Plans To Pay China To Help Ukraine Kill Russians".

RFE/RL reported that "While Kyiv has cut back on the purchase of ready-made drones from China, components such as motors, lithium batteries, and fiberoptics are still in high demand." Additionally, "In the first six months of 2026, imports of Chinese parts had already reached around 76 percent of the total recorded for the previous year." They also cited a Ukrainian report which claimed that "38 percent of the value of drone components imported by Ukraine in the first half of 2025 came from China."

The purpose of their piece appears to be to instill a sense of urgency in Ukraine and the West alike to radically ramp up domestic drone production in order to reduce what one of their cited experts described as Ukraine's "hostile interdependence" on China. They explained that "Beijing remains Kyiv's largest trading partner, while Ukraine is a key supplier of agricultural goods to China." That's true, and it's one of the reasons why China won't cut Ukraine off from drone-related sales, but there's more to it.

While Sino-Russo ties are better than at anytime in history, it was suspected as far back as early 2023 that "China Doesn't Want Anyone To Win In Ukraine", the reason being that a supposedly manageable forever war would indefinitely delay the full implementation of the US' planned "Pivot (back) to (East) Asia". Moreover, resource-rich Russia could become disproportionately dependent on China, thus leading to Moscow selling its natural wealth to Beijing at bargain-basement prices.

In pursuit of this cynical end, China has simultaneously played an irreplaceable role in providing Ukraine with drones, parts, and fiber optics (even if only indirectly through intermediaries like apologists have speculated) while serving as an irreplaceable valve from sanctions pressure for Russia. Ukraine is therefore able to keep pace with Russia's military-technical advancements, the Russian economy avoids the crisis that the West sought to catalyze through sanctions, and China maintains its "active neutrality".

The last point refers to China actively helping Ukraine and Russia, thus making it neutral in the sense of not taking either side. China financially profits from Ukraine's drone-related purchases, its economy continues growing due to the large-scale import of heavily discounted Russian energy, and it relatively reduces the overall Western pressure upon it by proving that it's not secretly "allied" with Russia. This policy, for whatever one might think about its merits, indisputably contributed to prolonging the conflict.

Had China cut Ukraine off from its drone-related sales in the spirit of its "no-limits" partnership with Russia that was declared several weeks before the start of special operation, then Russia might have attained more of its stated objectives in the conflict by now, if not outright achieved maximum victory. The US' military and intelligence support for Ukraine is more important than China's drone-related sales, but since there's no end to US support in sight, Russia should try to get China to finally cut Ukraine off.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-wont-china-cut-ukraine-drone-related-sales

The Exodus Continues... Britain's 3rd Largest Taxpayer Escapes To Greece

 Britain’s highest taxpayers have been drifting offshore since the non-dom regime was scrapped in April 2025 and inheritance tax was extended to worldwide assets.

This shift is already visible on the Sunday Times lists: six of the 2026 Tax List’s top 100 (including Revolut’s Nik Storonsky) had left in the previous year, the compiler noted that one in nine names on that list were no longer UK-resident, and the companion Rich List dropped dozens of foreign billionaires while recording a sharp rise in British nationals now based in Dubai, Switzerland and Monaco.

But, the latest news is likely the most disturbing to the increasingly socialist government as the UK's 3rd largest taxpayer - hedge fund founder Chris Rokos - is set to leave.

 The star trader paid a stunning £330 million ($447 million) in taxes last year...

That's one hell of a hole for Burnham and his buddies to fill.

As Bloomberg reports, Rokos is the latest in a string of high-profile financiers and business leaders that have opted to leave.

Since winning the general election in 2024, Labour has targeted wealth with taxes on non-domiciled residents, inheritance on family farms and businesses, private equity and private school fees.

At her last budget, former chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced a tax on homes worth more than £2 million.

With a net worth of about $4 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Rokos is among the UK’s most prominent figures in finance.

The Rokos Capital Management founder is switching his residency to Greece, people with knowledge of the arrangement said.

Rokos will also open an office in Athens as part of the move, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private.

Greece offers a 15-year high-net-worth investor regime.

Italy operates a similar 15-year system, but after recent increases, it has set the flat tax at €300,000 on foreign-sourced income.

Greece has also sought to lure fund managers and private equity executives, adopting new tax rules this summer designed to prevent double taxation.

If the highest taxpayers keep leaving - as Rokos’s reported move to Greece underlines - Labour’s bet that abolishing non-doms and tightening inheritance tax would raise more money starts to look fragile, because a thin slice of people already supplies a large share of income-tax receipts.

The government then faces an awkward choice: accept a smaller tax base and tighter budgets, or raise rates on the mobile and immobile alike and risk accelerating the outflow it is trying to tax.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/exodus-continues-britains-3rd-largest-taxpayer-escapes-greece