Total Revenue growth for the Second Quarter of 2024 of 11% year-over-year
GAAP Net Income from Continuing Operations during the Second Quarter of 2024 of $7.2 million versus Second Quarter 2023 GAAP loss of $28.9 million
Adjusted EBITDA profitability for the Second Quarter of 2024 of $36.2 million versus Second Quarter 2023 Adjusted EBITDA of $9.9 million
Increases Full-Year 2024 guidance to Insurance Revenue of $1.35 billion - $1.375 billion and Adjusted EBITDA profitability of $50 million - $65 million
Second Quarter 2024 Total Revenues of$712 million(+20% Y/Y and +25% at Constant Currency Y/Y); First Half 2024 Total Revenues of$1.36 billion(+14% Y/Y and +19% at Constant Currency Y/Y)
Second Quarter 2024 GAAP Diluted EPS of $0.55 (+90% Y/Y); First Half 2024 GAAP Diluted EPS of $1.01 (+80% Y/Y)
Second Quarter 2024 Non-GAAP Diluted Earnings per Share (EPS) of $0.96 (+78% Y/Y); First Half 2024 Non-GAAP Diluted EPS of $1.67 (+46% Y/Y)
Strong VOXZOGO® Demand in the Quarter Resulted in 73% Y/Y Increase in the Number of Children Receiving Treatment
Conference Call and Webcast Scheduled Today at 4:30 p.m. ET
BioMarin will host a conference call and webcast to discuss second quarter 2024 financial results today, Monday, August 5, 2024, at 4:30 p.m. ET. This event can be accessed through this link or on the investor section of the BioMarin website at www.biomarin.com.
Two U.S.-based advocacy groups are calling on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the activities of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “united front” foreign influence organizations in the United States, after identifying groups responsible for street violence in San Francisco during Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit in 2023.
Pro-Beijing protesters clash with Chinese dissidents in front of the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 14, 2023. (Eva Fu/The Epoch Times)
The Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC) and Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) used open-source research and facial recognition technology to identify CCP-aligned actors allegedly assaulting peaceful pro-democracy protesters during Xi’s four-day visit, according to their newly-released report.
The groups found that 19 leaders of the CCP’s united front groups were in San Francisco during Xi’s visit and 12 of them allegedly participated in attacks against protesters. These leaders came from all over the United States, including New York, California, Portland, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Philadelphia.
“Investigate whether united front groups in the U.S. are acting as unregistered foreign agents of the PRC in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” the two groups urged the DOJ, referring to China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.
The report also urged the DOJ to “explore the potential criminal liabilities of individuals and groups engaged in” transnational repression.
Xi arrived in San Francisco on Nov. 14 last year for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Many decided to use his visit as a platform to peacefully protest against the CCP’s human rights violations, holding demonstrations at the San Francisco International Airport; on the streets near the Moscone Center, where APEC meetings were held; in areas outside of the St. Regis Hotel where Xi stayed; and in other locations around the city.
However, the peaceful protests were marred by violence allegedly committed by Xi’s supporters and pro-CCP demonstrators. The report documents 34 cases of harassment, intimidation, and assault.
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, said in a July 31 statement that the CCP-directed attacks “were an outrageous violation of American sovereignty and the values we all hold dear.” He called on the FBI and the San Francisco Police Department to hold the perpetrators accountable.
“This thuggery—also known as transnational repression—has no place in America,” Moolenaar said. “The CCP cannot be allowed to bring its Orwellian model of totalitarian control to American soil.”
United Front Groups
The CCP leverages a network of groups, some directly under the control of the United Front Work Department within its Central Committee, to carry out its “united front” strategy to advance the regime’s interests overseas. A big part of the strategy involves exerting influence and control over Chinese diaspora communities and promoting favorable narratives about China under the CCP’s rule.
One united front leader identified in the report is Li Huahong, the head of the Chinese Anti-Cult World Alliance (CACWA). According to the report, Li, who was wearing a CACWA jacket at the time, allegedly attacked Chinese activist Jia Junwei outside of St. Regis on Nov. 14 last year. Jia had traveled to San Francisco seeking justice for her deceased father, a victim of the regime’s land expropriation policies who died in Chinese detention in 2017.
Jia said that Li “snatched her banner, dragged her into an area surrounded by other CCP supporters who held up their large PRC flags so that no one could see what was happening, pulled her hair, and hit her in the head,” the report states, adding that an ambulance later arrived at the scene and first responders treated Jia.
Li was “alleged to be involved” in more attacks the next day, alongside a dinner reception for Xi at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, according to the report. Inside a parking garage across from the hotel, an unidentified man wearing a CACWA jacket was among a group of 15 masked CCP supporters allegedly attacking Tibetan protesters, after the latter unfurled a banner with the words “Dictator Xi, Your Time Is Up.”
In 2013, Li was convicted in New York on charges of attacking Falun Gong practitioners. The faith group is persecuted by the CCP in China.
Also on Nov. 14 last year, Li Huanjun, a victim of forced demotion in China, said that she was hit in the head with a flagpole and pinched on the arms, waist, and other places several times during encounters with CCP supporters.
One of the individuals who allegedly participated in the harassment and intimidation of Li Huanjun was Jing Dongsheng, the report stated, identifying him as the president of the Oregon Association for the Promotion of the Peaceful Unification of China.
Four other united front leaders were allegedly responsible for attacks against Chinese activist Wang Wei on Nov. 15 last year. According to the report, their names are Wengxi Zhuoma, president of the Sichuan Association of Washington State; Guo Jianwei, president of the Henan Association of Washington State; Fang Weixia, chair of the Association of China’s Peaceful Reunification of Washington State; and Chen Wenshen, vice president of the Seattle-area Fujian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Washington State.
In a video, Fang can be seen “punching … and kicking” activist Wang, according to the report.
Wang explained in the report that he was wearing a “Free China” sticker on his arm, which could be the reason he became a target of the CCP supporters.
“A question which the U.S. government, local governments, and federal and local law enforcement authorities may need to confront is whether the CCP united front groups and individuals are essentially acting as unregistered foreign agents, in which case they may be in breach of the law,” the two groups wrote.
Transnational Repression
HKDC and SFT said that local authorities in San Francisco did not do enough to protect protesters.
“Despite strong awareness of CCP [transnational repression] at the federal level and a general commitment to countering it, agencies were unprepared to do so in San Francisco,” the two groups wrote.
“Local law enforcement authorities exhibited a lack of awareness of [transnational repression], were often unresponsive when alerted to the attacks, and took little and inadequate action in response to the attacks.”
The report explained that protesters had to change their protest plans several times “due to safety concerns.”
For example, Tibetan and Uyghur groups canceled their plan to march to the Hyatt Regency on Nov. 15, 2023.
“When they saw the large numbers of CCP supporters gathered outside the hotel and an absence of separate protest zones, they decided against this course of action as they feared it could lead to a potentially violent confrontation,” the report reads.
Standing Up for Liberty
The report offered recommendations to the White House, the Department of State, the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Congress, and state and local authorities to address the CCP’s acts of transnational repression.
It urges the State Department to impose targeted sanctions against foreign individuals who “direct or engage” in acts of transnational repression. It also asks the Department of Homeland Security to offer transnational repression-related training to state and local law enforcement.
Congress is also urged to pass legislation such as the Transnational Repression Policy Act, the Stop Transnational Repression Act (H.R.5907), the Combating Transnational Repression Act of 2024 (H.R. 7443), the Law Enforcement Support and Transnational Repression Hotline Act (H.R. 7433), and the Strengthening State and Local Efforts to Combat Transnational Repression Act (H.R. 7439).
Introduced by Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.) in February and co-sponsored by Reps. Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.), August Pfluger (R-Texas), and Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.), H.R. 7439 would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a “transnational repression threat training program” for state, local, tribal, campus, and territorial law enforcement, according to a press release.
“Silence and lack of action will surely signal to the CCP that it has ‘gotten away with it’ and simply encourage it to continue to pursue its objectives to silence, intimidate, and inflict violence on those it perceives as its enemies abroad,” the report reads.
“At best, it leaves those who live in the United States and advocate for freedom and human rights in East Turkestan, Hong Kong, the PRC, and Tibet uncertain and skeptical that U.S. authorities will protect them when the CCP seeks to come after them, and, at worst, fearful and intimidated in the ‘land of the free.’”
The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Vice President Harris'past comments about the impact of inflation on American consumers and how the Biden-Harris administration would address it are resurfacing in the wake of her becoming the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee.
Harris spoke at a press conference on Nov. 12, 2021, and was asked about the administration's plans to prevent spending under the Build Back Better agenda from exacerbating inflation and the administration's other efforts to prevent prices from rising.
As of November 2021, inflation had reached 6.8% year-over-year and would continue to rise to a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022. Her remarks followed Congress' passage of the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the enactment of Democrats' $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act and came as the Democrat-controlled House prepared to vote on the $2.2 trillion Build Back Better Act.
"Let's start with this: Prices have gone up, and families and individuals are dealing with the realities of — that bread costs more, that gas costs more," Harris said. "And we have to understand what that means. That's about the cost of living going up. That's about having to stress and stretch limited resources. That's about a source of stress for families that is not only economic but is on a daily level something that is a heavy weight to carry."
Vice President Harris touted the Biden-Harris administration's efforts to tame inflation in November 2021. Inflation would peak at a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"So that is something that we take very seriously, very seriously. And we know from the history of this issue in the United States that when you see these prices go up, it has a direct impact on the quality of life for all people in our country. So it's a big issue, and we take it seriously, and it is a priority, therefore," Harris explained.
"So we have addressed it in a number of ways. One of the issues that we know is related to this is the supply chain issue that we just discussed. So on a domestic level, in terms of domestic policy, one of the approaches we have taken is to work with labor unions and to work with municipalities in opening back up and extending the hours of our ports," she said.
Vice President Harris said the Build Back Better agenda would help lower costs. (Elizabeth Conley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Harris noted the administration's work to extend the operational hours of ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach in California and Savannah, Georgia, to help address a backlog of container ships waiting to be offloaded amid a pandemic-induced supply chain glut that was contributing to inflation. She went on to tout the Biden-Harris administration's Build Back Better proposal as a means of lowering costs for Americans.
"There is also a point that is important to make on the Build Back Better framework. One, it is designed to make it less expensive for working people to live. It was specifically designed to bring down the costs of child care and increase accessibility and availability. Designed to bring down the cost of elder care and make it available to all the working families that need that support and need that help," she said.
"And, Build Back Better is not going to cost anything — we're paying for it. So when we can get Build Back Better passed, and we are optimistic that we will, the American people will see costs actually reduced around some of the most essential services that they need to take care of their basic responsibilities, including issues like child care and elder care, and also preschool," Harris said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Vice President Harris speak to reporters after Schumer awarded her a golden gavel for casting her 32nd tie-breaking vote in the Senate; the most ever cast by a vice president in history on Dec. 5, 202 (DDrew Angerer/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Her remarks preceded House Democrats' passage of the $2.2 trillion Build Back Better Act the following week, although that bill stalled in the Senate amid opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — a moderate senator who was a Democrat at the time but would eventually change his affiliation to Independent in June 2024.
After the Build Back Better Act faltered, the proposal was later reworked as the slimmed-down $1.2 trillion Inflation Reduction Act, which passed both the Democrat-controlled House and Senate on party-line votes through the reconciliation process.
Notably, Vice President Harris cast the tiebreaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act in the Senate on its way to becoming law.
FOX Business reached out to a Harris spokesperson for comment.
The battle to become Vice President Harris’s running mate is turning increasingly ugly as a decision nears and Democrats rally around their own preferred picks.
Progressives angered by Israel’s war in Gaza have increasingly targeted Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who is Jewish, over his stances on Israel and handling of pro-Palestinian protests. Separately, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) also flagged concerns about Shapiro to Harris’s team, according to Politico.
The left wing of the Democratic Party is increasingly pushing for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be the Harris pick. A number of House Democrats have been trying to boost Walz, a source familiar with the conversations said.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), another top contender, has seen some union leaders publicly question whether he should get the nod, though the talk has not reached the nastiness of the debate over Shapiro.
The vice presidential battle, some strategists say, is starting to resemble a Democratic primary fight.
“This is probably the closest thing to a primary that Democrats get this cycle and that explains why this has gotten so high stakes,” said one Democratic strategist who has worked on recent presidential campaigns. “Many Democrats are looking at this as the last opportunity to impact the ticket and potentially the last opportunity to have an impact on the White House until 2028 or 2032 so you are seeing a lot of campaigning.”
When President Biden dropped out of the raced and endorsed Harris, Democrats and Republicans alike were stunned at how quickly the party coalesced around her. Many had been expecting a messy battle to take place post-Biden, but instead no challengers emerged and the party was largely able to breathe a sigh of relief.
While that fight was avoided, the vice presidential race has taken on a more bitter tone.
“Veepstakes is normally a months-long process, and while the surprise of picking rising talent from the bench for the ticket has excited Democrats, it created a pressure-cooker environment over two weeks,” a second strategist said. “All opposition research and critique that would normally have time to breathe is being rushed out the door.”
“In the closing days, the fractures have grown more intense, but their durability is unclear, and the guiding principle for the Harris campaign remains the same: Do no harm, show good judgment with your pick, and maybe move the needle in key states.”
A Harris ally agreed that the condensed time frame, immediately following the fractures in the Democratic Party, are contributing to the “intensity of the moment.”
“No one wants to make a mistake here,” the ally said. “The window is small and the stakes are high.”
Shapiro has bore the brunt of the veepstakes criticism, particularly from progressives. The governor’s critics from the left-leaning flank of his party point to what they say has been a heavy-handed approach to pro-Palestinian protests and efforts during his time as governor and attorney general.
One particular discussion grew so intense, activists debated if the phrase “Genocide Josh” while describing Shapiro was antisemitic, according to The New York Times.
Some Democrats say that much of the criticism Shapiro has received is from the “overly online left,” and predict that progressives will fall in line if Harris picks him.
“These internal squabbles … might seem large online because they can inspire big feelings, [but] it doesn’t reflect anything happening in the real world. The normal voter is not paying attention to this,” said Keith Edwards, a digital Democratic strategist.
But one progressive strategist told The Hill that the criticism is not exclusive to online spaces and could impact turnout among Arab American and Muslim voters.
“I think there are going to be problems if he is the VP for the Arab vote, the progressive vote,” the strategist said. “I do think this is going to be more of a defining moment for her campaign than I thought.”
Progressives and pro-Palestinian activists say they take particular issue with a recently resurfaced op-ed from Shapiro’s undergraduate years at the University of Rochester in which he predicted that “peace will never come” to the Middle East and described Palestinians as “battle minded.”
The Institute for Peace and Institute for Middle East Understanding rolled out their own statement on Friday referring to Shapiro’s comments in the op-ed as “virulently racist.”
Shapiro’s spokesperson responded to the resurfaced op-ed, which Shapiro wrote when he was 20, saying in a statement that the governor’s views on the issue have since “evolved into the position he holds today.”
Additionally, Shapiro’s allies have pointed to shows of support from the Arab community, including a recent op-ed from a member of the Philadelphia Arab American Development Corp that praised Shapiro for reaching out to the community following Oct. 7.
Shapiro’s supporters and critics of progressives point out that Shapiro’s present stances on Israel-related issues are not that different from those of the other contenders, arguing that much of the criticism is rooted in antisemitism. Shapiro is a supporter of a two-state solution and has been a vocal critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war.
“Those in the overly online left who are attacking Josh Shapiro’s pro-Israel positions in a different way than they are attacking non-Jewish veep contenders positions, they’re just telling on themselves. There’s a strong undercurrent of antisemitism,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), who is Jewish, told CNN on Monday.
One Democratic strategist predicted that the backlash particularly from progressives likely wouldn’t play a major role in Harris’s decision, pointing to her moderated stances on issues like “Medicare for All” and fracking.
“She’s had so many opportunities to play into their demands already and she hasn’t taken that bait,” the strategist said.
Edwards also questioned how long voters will stay fixated on the veepstakes news cycle given the chaotic nature of politics over the past month.
“The new cycle is minutes long,” he said. “There was an assassination attempt three weeks ago and no one talks about that. This, what we’re talking about here, is so small.”
At least five U.S. personnel were injured in an attack against a military base in Iraq on Monday, U.S. officials told Reuters, as the Middle East braced for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies following last week's killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Two Katyusha rockets were fired at al Asad airbase in western Iraq, two Iraqi security sources said. One Iraqi security source said the rockets fell inside the base. It was unclear whether the attack was linked to threats by Iran to retaliate over the killings.
On Wednesday, Iran said the U.S. bears responsibility in the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran because of its support for Israel.
The U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said one of the wounded Americans was seriously injured. The casualty count was based on initial reports which could still change, they said.
"Base personnel are conducting a post-attack damage assessment," one of the officials added.
Last week the U.S. carried out a strike in Iraq against individuals U.S. officials said were militants getting ready to launch drones and posed a threat to U.S. and coalition forces.
The U.S. has been watching to see if Iran would make good on its vow to respond to the killing of Haniyeh two days ago in Tehran, one in a series of killings of senior figures in the Palestinian militant group as the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza rages.
The Pentagon has said it will deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East, as Washington seeks to bolster defenses following threats from Iran and its allies Hamas and Hezbollah.
A rare ally of both the U.S. and Iran, Iraq hosts 2,500 U.S. troops and has Iran-backed militias linked to its security forces. It has witnessed escalating tit-for-tat attacks since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.
Iraq wants troops from the U.S.-led military coalition to begin withdrawing in September and to formally end the coalition's work by September 2025, Iraqi sources have said, with some U.S. forces likely to remain in a newly negotiated advisory capacity.
Baghdad has struggled to reign in Iran-backed armed groups that have attacked U.S. forces there and in neighboring Syria dozens of time since Oct. 7.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Sunday.
An Iraqi official said Blinken asked Sudani to help decrease regional tensions by helping to convince Iran to temper its response to an Israeli strike in Tehran that killed the leader of Hamas last week.
U.S. Army General Michael "Erik" Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command, is currently in the Middle East. One of the U.S. officials said Kurilla was speaking with allies to ensure there was coordination in case of an Iranian attack against Israel.
In a strange move, the official X account of the Democratic Party chose to upload an image of Kamala Harris that is 16 years old, surrounded by signs that say ‘Michelle’ as a way of promoting the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
This is the image:
Weird.
It’s an image from the 2008 DNC, where Harris was watching Michelle Obama speak.
It’s not even a good image. It’s all blurred and has a massive lens flare.
Why was this image used when there are thousands of images of the DNC and Kamala Harris that are in focus and more recent?
