Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Bristol Myers Squibb inks $15B biobucks deal to bag Hengrui assets, tap China’s R&D
Bristol Myers Squibb has formed a broad partnership with Hengrui Pharma, paying $600 million upfront to advance 13 early-stage programs from across the two companies’ pipelines. The deal could be worth up to $15.2 billion.
The outlay, which includes $175 million payments on the first and second anniversaries of the deal, gives BMS ex-China rights to four oncology and hematology assets from Hengrui. BMS will jointly discover and develop a further five drug candidates. Option fees for joint discovery programs, plus the achievement of development, regulatory and commercial milestones for all programs, contribute to the total deal value.
BMS has granted Hengrui rights to four of its immunology assets in China, Hong Kong and Macau. The Shanghai-based biotech will be fully responsible for early development in humans to accelerate clinical proof of concept, BMS said.
Tapping capabilities across geographies could cut the time to early clinical insights and support informed decisions, Robert Plenge, M.D., Ph.D., chief research officer at BMS, said in a statement. Hengrui named (PDF) “efficient early-stage development expertise” among its contributions to the partnership.
The comments appear to reflect evidence that drug candidates reach clinical proof of concept faster in China. The timeline from early discovery to clinical trial filing is 50% to 70% faster in China than the rest of the world, McKinsey found.
David Elkins, BMS’ chief financial officer, acknowledged China’s edge at a Citi investor event in December. Working in China is a “great way to get products into humans as quickly as possible to get to proof of concept, so it’s critically important to the development cycle,” Elkins said. The CFO also noted that China was on track to overtake the U.S. and become the biggest source of new clinical trial filings globally.
The Hengrui partnership gives BMS both a source of pipeline programs and the means to accelerate the early progress of those assets and some of its internal candidates. Hengrui, which has the option to co-develop certain assets and participate in commercialization globally, gains access to some of the fruits of BMS’ drug discovery engine, plus its partners’ global R&D, regulatory and commercial capabilities.
BMS’ inclusion of its own assets in the deal sets the agreement apart from Hengrui’s other alliances. Last year, GSK paid $500 million upfront to license one Hengrui candidate and secure options on 11 other programs. The deal, which is worth up to $12 billion, positioned Hengrui to advance the assets through phase 1. Hengrui also has deals with Kailera, Merck & Co. and Merck KGaA.
Zelensky, Palantir CEO discuss tech development
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Tuesday that he met with Palantir Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alex Karp, during which the two discussed several areas of technological development, "both in the context of combat operations and civilian needs."
"Step by step, we are developing cooperation with the American defense sector," Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Palantir is a "renowned global company with strong potential, and there certainly are areas where we can be useful to one another, strengthening the defense of Ukraine, America, and our partners."
In addition, the Ukrainian president described the meeting as "good" and shared that both sides will stay in touch.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Zelensky-Palantir-CEO-discuss-tech-development/66272082
Bayer's Q1 sales down 2.4% to €13.4 billion
Bayer AG announced on Tuesday that its sales in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2026 stood at €13.4 billion, down 2.4% compared to the same period a year prior. The figure matched analysts' expectations. Net income soared 112.7% to €2.7 billion while its earnings per share jumped from €1.32 reported the year before to €2.81.
The pharmaceutical company's full-year outlook includes free cash flow expected to amount to between €2 billion and €3 billion in 2026. Sales are forecast in a range between €45 billion and €47 billion compared to the previous range of €44 billion and €46 billion.
"The war in the Middle East is weighing on the global economic environment, reinforcing our expectations that the world economy will grow by a below-average, low single-digit percentage in 2026 (based on International Monetary Fund data)," the statement showed.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Bayer's-Q1-sales-down-2.4-to-euro13.4-billion/66269865
Huckabee: Israel sent Iron Dome to UAE
United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Tuesday that Israel deployed Iron Dome systems and military personnel to the United Arab Emirates during the Iran conflict as part of efforts to strengthen the country's air defenses.
"I'd like to say a word of appreciation for the United Arab Emirates, the first Abraham Accord member," Huckabee said at the Tel Aviv Conference. "Israel just sent them Iron Dome batteries and personnel to help operate them," he added. Huckabee also said he was "very optimistic" that more countries in the region would join the Abraham Accords.
He said Gulf states now comprehend they "will have to make a choice" between Iran and Israel. "They see that Israel helped us and Iran attacked us," Huckabee said, adding that Israel "is not trying to take over your land, and is not sending missiles to you."
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Huckabee:-Israel-sent-Iron-Dome-to-UAE/66272617
Europe Fails To React To Ukrainian Drone Incidents
by Lucas Leiroz de Almeida via Global Research,
Recent drone incidents in European countries, especially in the Baltic states, are generating controversy among those who support the war with Russia. Some argue that Ukraine is merely defending itself against “Russian aggression,” with these “accidental” occurrences being an inevitable side effect of hostilities. Others believe that Kiev should act more cautiously to avoid harming partner countries. Meanwhile, drones continue to crash in Europe without a definitive solution being presented for this issue.
Recently, a kamikaze drone launched by Ukraine struck a fuel storage tank in Latvia. At the time of the incident, the tank was empty, which prevented a major tragedy. Had the drone hit a full tank, the result would have been a large explosion, followed by a massive fire, generating serious economic and environmental damage – as has happened in several recent cases in Russian border regions, with drones hitting energy facilities and causing serious fires.
Obviously, the expected attitude of any country hit by a foreign drone – even from an allied country – is at least to condemn the action and demand financial compensation for the damage caused. But apparently, this is not the Latvian stance regarding Ukrainian drones falling in the country. Recently, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds stated that Kiev should not be held responsible for these incidents. According to him, these are merely accidental collateral damages, with the real blame for the occurrence lying with Russia – which he believes “started the war”.
Spruds stated that “Ukraine has every right to defend itself,” admitting that even incidents affecting Latvian territory should be tolerated, since Kiev is only acting in “legitimate self-defense.”
In practice, he prioritized the supposed Ukrainian “right” to attack Russia over the national security of Latvian territory and people.
Not only that, the Latvian government also summoned Russian diplomats and demanded explanations about the case.
Even though the drones are known to be of Ukrainian origin, the Latvian government maintains a firm stance of holding Russia responsible for any event related to the conflict.
Furthermore, Moscow has also presented reports to the Latvian side showing that drones have crashed in the country due to failed Ukrainian attempts to attack the St. Petersburg region, but the Latvian government ignores these circumstances and simply blames Moscow.
Unfortunately, this attitude is not unique to the defense sector. Tolerance towards incidents involving Ukrainian drones is also widely endorsed by the country’s government and parliament, with most local politicians and bureaucrats being mere representatives of European elites interested in spreading Russophobia and pro-war sentiments. Commenting on the case, Latvian PM Evika Silina herself stated that, regardless of the origin of the drones that hit the country, it is always necessary to blame Russia – which she considers the “actual culprit”.
“It doesn’t matter whose drones hit the oil depot in Latvia, the main thing is to remember Russia’s responsibility for it. Russia is the aggressor,” she said.
It is important to remember that the incident at the fuel depot was just one in a recent wave of frustrated Ukrainian attacks resulting in drone crashes in Europe. Previously, on March 23, Ukrainian drones exploded near Lake Lavysas in Lithuania; two days later, in Latvia itself, drones crashed in the Kraslava region, and on the same day a similar incident occurred at the Auvere Power Plant in Estonia. On March 29, the city of Kouvola in Finland was hit by Ukrainian drones. Furthermore, several other related incidents have been reported in different countries in recent months.
In none of these cases was there an effective European response to the crimes committed by Ukraine. Justifying these occurrences with the unfounded narrative of “self-defense,” European countries are tolerating threats to their own territories and abdicating their right to demand reparations from the Ukrainian regime.
In practice, this only strengthens Ukraine’s position and gives even more freedom to the local military to act irresponsibly, launching swarms of drones indiscriminately, aware that some of them will likely fall on civilian areas of allied countries – but simply not caring, since these countries will ultimately blame Russia.
At some point, these Ukrainian drones will begin to cause more serious damage than merely destroying empty depots. If the incidents do not cease, there will inevitably be deaths in Europe in the near future. And then it will not be enough for local governments to say “it’s Russia’s fault,” because the victims’ relatives, knowing that the drones are Ukrainian, will demand more concrete answers and harsh measures against those responsible. As a result, the support given by these countries to Ukraine will become even more unpopular, generating an internal legitimacy crisis.
To prevent the worst-case scenario, the best thing Europeans can do now is to openly condemn Kiev and demand financial reparations for the damage caused.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/europe-fails-react-ukrainian-drone-incidents