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Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Democratic Leadership Should Apologize to the American People
Biden Still Seeks Bilateral Deal With Saudis Before Trump Enters Oval
Before President Joe Biden leaves office in January, he will seek to sign a bilateral security agreement with Saudi Arabia, according to a new report. The deal comes after the Biden administration failed to ink a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Barak Ravid of Axios reported on Tuesday that "the US and Saudi Arabia are discussing a possible security agreement that wouldn’t involve a broader deal with Israel."

"The agreement wouldn't be the full defense treaty the U.S. and Saudi Arabia were discussing but Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and the White House still want to reach a security agreement before President Biden leaves office in January," the report continues.
As a candidate, Biden ran on a platform of holding the Gulf Kingdom responsible for the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi slaughter in Yemen that claimed around 400,000 lives.
While the Biden administration announced some restrictions on weapon sales to Saudi Arabia, which were later lifted, top US officials sought to expand the Donald Trump-era Abraham Accords with Riyadh.
The Accords are a series of agreements where the US promised arms and other benefits to Muslim nations that normalized their relationship with Israel.
Prior to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Tel Aviv’s onslaught in Gaza, Washington was nearing a pact with Tel Aviv and Riyadh that would see Saudi Arabia receive weapons, a mutual defense treaty, and nuclear technology from the US.
The Israeli genocide against Gaza has made any deal impossible. Over the past year, the White House has sought to expand the Israel-Saudi normalization pact to include the rebuilding of Gaza.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused any ceasefire in Gaza, scuttling the changes of any deal with the Kingdom.
It’s unclear why the Biden administration would seek to strengthen bilateral security ties with Riyadh with the president’s short time left in office. Saudi Arabia has an abysmal human rights record.
While Biden has been so far unable to get a deal done between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Beijing was able to broker an agreement between Tehran and Riyadh. Recently, the Saudi and Iranian military conducted bilateral drills in the Gulf of Oman.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/biden-still-seeks-bilateral-deal-saudis-trump-enters-oval
Catalent Misses on Fiscal Q1 Revenue as Pressure Mounts on Novo $16.5B Buyout
The contract manufacturer fell short of Wall Street’s projections for its first quarter of fiscal 2025, which ended Sept. 30, 2024. The miss comes amid growing opposition to Novo Holdings’ proposed $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent.
Catalent on Tuesday released its fiscal first-quarter 2025 earnings report, touting 4% growth in its net revenue and “continued confidence” from its clients, but falling short of the consensus estimate.
The CDMO giant brought in $1.02 billion in fiscal Q1, whereas analysts had projected nearly $1.06 billion in total revenue. The miss was driven by the disappointing performance across both of its main business units—Catalent’s biologics division brought in $461 million in the quarter, a 3% increase from the same period last year, but below the consensus forecast of $484 million.
Despite reporting 5% year-over-year growth for its pharma and consumer health franchise, Catalent’s Q1 net revenue of $563 million missed the analyst estimate of $574 million.
Catalent reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $125 million, which came up short of the analyst forecast of $156 million.
Still, company executives were optimistic in an investor call with CEO Alessandro Maselli calling its performance “solid” in the quarter. Maselli touted the CDMO’s 5% growth excluding COVID, adding that “the strength of our pipeline is bearing fruit” despite “macro headwinds.”
Maselli expressed confidence in Catalent’s strategic plans moving forward, bolstered by the “continued high demand” for its gene therapy services, as well as the “expanded exposure to GLP-1 demand.” The CDMO saw “a very strong rate of new approvals” in its pharma and consumer health business, according to Maselli.
However, analysts don’t seem to share the company’s optimism. In a note to investors, William Blair analyst Max Smock called Catalent’s Q1 “underwhelming” and flagged several key risk factors for the CDMO in the coming years, including “productivity declines and underutilized capacity” and mounting quality assurance problems—as identified by regulators—that could cause product delays or harm its reputation.
Catalent’s disappointing financial results come amid growing opposition to Novo Holdings’ proposed acquisition of the CDMO. Novo Holdings first announced its buyout of Catalent in February 2024, putting $16.5 billion on the line in an all-cash transaction.
Catalent expects the deal to close by the end of this year, after which Novo Holdings intends to sell three of the CDMO’s key fill-finish sites to Novo Nordisk for $11 billion.
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks in the pharma’s earnings call in August said the company is concerned about the acquisition, as it relies on one of Catalent’s sites for GLP-1 and other diabetes production. “It’s more the oddity of your main competitor being also your contract manufacturer,” Ricks said. “We’ve aired those concerns publicly and privately since the proposed transaction was announced, and we’re waiting to see what happens.”
Roche is urging regulatory authorities to block Novo Holdings’ acquisition of Catalent, arguing that the deal would have wide-ranging negative effects on the industry. “Limiting the competition in this space is not a good idea,” Roche CEO Thomas Schinecker said in a media call last month. The buyout would further restrict the contract manufacturing ecosystem, Schinecker said, which “could be a problem for other smaller players.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) last month wrote to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan urging her to take a close look at the proposed acquisition and its potential anti-competitive impact. A coalition of unions, consumer organizations and public interest groups also asked Khan to “challenge” the transaction to protect healthy competition in the industry, and to protect patients’ access to affordable therapies.
Novo Misses Overall Q3 Revenue Despite Beating Wegovy Sales Forecast, Narrows 2024 Outlook
Novo Nordisk’s total revenue in the third quarter missed analysts’ expectations but sales of weight loss drug Wegovy exceeded the consensus forecast. Still, the Danish drugmaker narrowed its full-year guidance for revenue and operating profit.
Novo Nordisk on Wednesday reported a third-quarter beat for sales of blockbuster Wegovy, signaling to investors that the company has not yet ceded its frontrunner status in the obesity market to rival Eli Lilly.
Wegovy sales jumped 79% year-on-year in Q3 bringing in $2.5 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of approximately $2.3 billion by 9%. Novo’s total obesity care business generated more than $2.7 billion in the quarter—growing 53% from the same period last year and topping the analyst forecast by 6%—despite Saxenda’s 16% miss.
Type 2 diabetes medication Ozempic secured nearly $4.29 billion in Q3, which fell 3% short of the consensus forecast of $4.41 billion. Novo’s overall revenue in the quarter, which jumped 21% year-over-year to $10.26 billion, also missed analysts’ consensus projection of $10.41 billion.
In a note to investors, BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman called Wegovy’s Q3 beat “a surprise positive” for Novo, driven mainly by “new international market launches.” Seigerman pointed out that the pharma’s insulin franchise, particularly its rapid-acting NovoRapid, also contributed substantially to its strong performance in the quarter.
Jefferies analyst Peter Welford described Novo’s Q3 results as “robust” and which “may be seen as a relief given recent stock weakness.” However, the company’s stock price was down in Wednesday morning trading.
Seigerman said the Ozempic miss points to continued supply problems, particularly in the U.S. where “manufacturing will remain the number one issue” for Novo and its shareholders. “We expect investors will be keen to understand how Novo can eliminate any constraints to Ozempic, which appeared to weigh on sales for the quarter.”
Looking ahead, Novo on Wednesday narrowed its growth guidance for 2024. The pharma now expects its sales to increase by 23% to 27%, compared to its previously announced range of 22% to 28%. Operating profit is anticipated to grow from 21% to 27% versus its prior guidance of 20% to 28%. Welford in his note said that this adjustment was “anticipated,” noting that this more precise outlook “still assumes continued periodic GLP-1 supply constraints.”
Novo’s Q3 beat for Wegovy comes just days after the FDA removed all doses of the obesity drug—and Ozempic—from its drug shortages database, indicating that these medications should now be freely available. In an interview with Reuters, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said that the company will now start removing its restrictions on the lower doses of Wegovy.
Still, the regulator’s webpage lists semaglutide—the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy— as “currently in shortage,” which keeps the opportunity open for compounding pharmacies to produce their remixed versions of the GLP-1 receptor agonist.
Novo has taken a strong stance against this practice, however, filing a barrage of lawsuits in June 2023 against clinics and spas that sell compounded semaglutide. The pharma succeeded in securing a permanent injunction against one such establishment in February 2024. Last month, the company also asked the FDA to declare semaglutide too complicated to compound, a regulatory determination that would prevent the drug from being compounded even in times of shortage.
On Wednesday’s analyst call, Jørgensen said that “our first and foremost concern about compounding is really about the product quality,” noting that the safety reports regarding these remixed drugs have been “alarming” including 10 deaths and 100 hospitalizations.
“We have been in dialogue with the FDA based on our increasing supply to the U.S. of Wegovy, including supply of the starter doses,” Jørgensen said, adding that the company is aiming to remove the drug shortage notification for semaglutide, which would limit compounders.
Biden White House plans to rush military aid to Ukraine by inauguration day
Californians Vote To Make Crime Illegal Again
by Victoria Taft via PJMedia.com,
California voters may not fully appreciate yet that they voted to toss marriage into the wood chipper on Election Day, but at least they were sentient enough to vote against crime. Baby steps.
Crime has been bad in the Golden State since those same voters passed Proposition 47. Voters were told that retributive justice meted out against criminals for doing drugs and stealing stuff was simply too harsh. Have a heart, the Democrats said. So in 2014, voters took the word of then-San Francisco DA George Gascon and California Attorney General Kamala Harris and passed Prop 47. What voters didn't know was that Kamala, George, and all their Soros-inspired chaos agents had their fingers crossed behind their backs.
George Soros's Open Society Foundation and the Ford Foundation had suckered voters again.
Prop 47 magically redefined felonies, making them misdemeanors. And instead of spending money on prisons for the state's ever-increasing number of criminals, the state reckoned it would save money by not building prisons and fast-tracking criminals back into polite society. Crime spiked, but the researchers, in on the joke, told the increasing number of crime victims to settle down, the crime rate was going down.
Entire chains of stores have left San Francisco because the law allows people to walk in and steal $950 worth of goods without punishment. Organized gangs of thieves walk into stores and steal thousands of dollars worth of goods because they know no one will stop them.
This set of laws unleashed a flood of retail theft gangs, knockouts on the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco, and luxury store lootings, and the laws transformed stores into museums of food. Don't smudge the glass.
Now it's ten years later. It has taken millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours in multiple attempts to exterminate this ridiculous set of laws.
Through those years, choruses of "something must be done!" echoed from city council chambers in every major city. Chaos peaked during the "Criminals' Lives Matter but Yours Don't" movement in California.
On Tuesday, voters took a decisive step towards sanity by passing Proposition 36. Under this change, crime will start being illegal again. Acts of theft will be combined to reach the threshold requiring punishment, and addicts will be "incentivized" at drug court to go into treatment. It's a start.
Los Angeles voters also made a big move on Tuesday.
After George Gascon left the San Francisco DA's office, the woke grifter brought his act to LA and voters there made him their district attorney.
But on Tuesday, voters took out the trash.
Gascon was voted out by 61% of the voters. And Kamala lost her race, too.
Yes, it was a very good day Tuesday.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/californians-vote-make-crime-illegal-again
Media Beside Themselves Over Trump Victory, Zelenskyy Talks 'Peace' In Ukraine
After Donald Trump's historic comeback last night, the 'vibes' coming from the left are a mixture of somber resignation and disbelief.
🚨PELOSI: THERE'S NO POINT IN SAYING GOOD MORNING
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 6, 2024
"Because it certainly is not one."
Source: MSNBC pic.twitter.com/7megOE47t9
At this point, Trump has won the presidency and Republicans have kept the Senate. Meanwhile, the House remains too close to call - however Republicans have picked up two seats from the Democrats. According to Decision Desk HQ, the odds of a sweep stand at 79.4%.
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver her concession speech around 4pm ET (with a teleprompter, and perhaps a new accent).
Meanwhile, we can't reiterate this enough - we have questions:
The media has gone from 'Hitler!' to humbled - though we know that's temporary.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough was baffled, saying "This is the biggest red wave I’ve seen since Ronald Reagan’s 49-state victory in 1984."
Oh, and Hispanic men are apparently misogynists:
CNN's Jake Tapper was shocked that Kamala Harris did not outperform Joe Biden in a single county (though in fact CNN's John King pressed the wrong button that showed state-wide results, however Harris still only outperformed Biden in a few counties):
NBC News is now blaming Biden for not dropping out sooner:
Fake News Matt Drudge is having a bad day...
Cuban took the high road:
Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy gave off broke college student vibes, writing to 'dad':
Congratulations to @realDonaldTrump on his impressive election victory!
I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September, when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership, the Victory Plan, and ways to put an end to Russian aggression against Ukraine.
I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the “peace through strength” approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer. I am hopeful that we will put it into action together.
We look forward to an era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership. We rely on continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States.
We are interested in developing mutually beneficial political and economic cooperation that will benefit both of our nations. Ukraine, as one of Europe's strongest military powers, is committed to ensuring long-term peace and security in Europe and the Transatlantic community with the support of our allies.
I am looking forward to personally congratulating President Trump and discussing ways to strengthen Ukraine's strategic partnership with the United States.
Then there was this bitch-ass bitch, UK MP David Lammy, who vowed to be "out protesting in the streets" in 2017 over Trump.
Meanwhile, Ann Selzer - who predicted an Iowa blowout for Harris, just self-immolated:
We'll give the last word to Dank Brandon (via @midnightmitch):



