Blackstone agreed to acquire Potomac Energy Center, a natural gas power plant in Virginia.
Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
The private equity firm said the deal through Blackstone Energy Transition Partners represents its most recent investment in the power infrastructure supporting data centers and the artificial-intelligence boom.
The New York-based firm said the Potomac plant is located in close proximity to over 130 data centers.
As snow fell in a wooded area of Ukraine, the long-range attack drones accelerated one by one down an unlit, abandoned road and their whirring engines propelled them into the night sky.
The unmanned aircraft carrying explosive warheads are part of a Ukrainian campaign of long-range drone attacks that aim to inflict blows on Russia far behind the front line as Moscow's troops advance in the east.
"Our main goal is to conduct strikes to hit logistics hubs in the rear, ammunition warehouses and decrease our enemy's pressure on the front," said the battalion commander of the Ukrainian drone unit, who gave only the call sign Casper.
Kyiv's military granted Reuters exclusive access during the launch of the drones, but said the location and date of the strike could not be disclosed for security reasons.
Ukraine has kept much of its wartime drone programme secret, seeing it as an invaluable way to chip away at Russia's vast military industrial base despite it lacking the huge arsenal of long-range missiles that Russia has.
Moscow conducts long-range drone attacks on a nightly basis, while Kyiv has stepped up its own drone strikes in recent weeks, with U.S. President Donald Trump pushing to halt the nearly three-year full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine.
The prospect of possible peace talks pushes both warring sides to try to improve their battlefield positions so they are in a stronger position to negotiate.
Russia's defence ministry said on Friday that an overnight Ukrainian attack involving more than 121 drones had targeted 13 of its regions, but that they had repelled it.
Ukraine's military said the attack hit a Russian oil refinery and a microchip factory in the Bryansk region with video posted online showing a giant plume of smoke and flames engulfing an oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan region.
Casper's unit, Ukraine's 14th Unmanned Aerial Systems Regiment, numbers a few hundred people and has its own analysts and engineers, and is focused specifically on long-range strikes.
One of the unit's founders, who uses the call sign Fidel, told Reuters that they had drones that had reached ranges of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) during combat missions.
He said their unit had carried out many strikes, including on the Russian airbase at Engels, which is located about 730 km (450 miles) southeast of Moscow and hosts strategic bombers.
Despite their impact in the war, Fidel said he believed that "unmanned systems alone cannot change the course of the war".
"You still need infantry ... you need artillery ... you need aviation, and many, many other things," he said.
Casper said they were using the domestically produced "Lyuty" drone for the strikes.
"The efficiency of our weapon is 40%-50% in total," he added.
Reuters was unable to independently verify that assessment.
https://www.aol.com/news/inside-ukrainian-drone-unit-conducting-194455482.html
Certain tumour types do not remain at their point of origin but spread throughout the body and form metastases. This is because the primary tumour continuously releases cancer cells into the blood. These circulating tumour cells (CTCs) can join together into small clusters of up to a dozen cells and settle in other organs. There, the clusters grow into larger tumours, known as metastases. Metastatic tumours are still a major medical problem: every year, around seven million people worldwide die from them.
One example of such a spreading tumour is breast cancer. As soon as the primary tumour forms metastases, the chances of survival decrease drastically. Tens of thousands of women worldwide still die of metastatic breast cancer. Oncologists are therefore looking for ways to weaken or destroy the clusters in order to prevent the formation of metastases.
In a new study, which has just been published in the journal Nature Medicine, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich, the University Hospitals of Basel and Zurich, and the Basel-Land Cantonal Hospital, shows a new, promising approach.
In a clinical study, the researchers administered the drug digoxin at a low and safe dosage for one week to nine patients with metastatic breast cancer.
The result: the number of cells per cluster decreased significantly – by an average of 2.2 cells. Given that typical cluster sizes are only a handful of cells, this means a significant reduction in the risk of metastases. The smaller the clusters, the less able they are to successfully produce metastases. “Breast cancer metastasis depends on CTC clusters”, explains principal investigator Nicola Aceto, Professor of Molecular Oncology at ETH Zurich. "The larger they are, the more successful they are."
The Achilles' heel of CTC clusters are the sodium-potassium pumps (also known as Na+/K+-ATPases), which are located in the membranes of tumour cells and are responsible for transporting sodium out of the cells and potassium into them. Digoxin blocks these ion pumps and thus suppresses the ion exchange. The cells therefore absorb more calcium from the outside of the cell membrane. This weakens the cohesion of the cancer cells in the cluster, causing them to fall apart.
However, digoxin alone does not eliminate the existing tumour. The agent would have to be administered in combination with other substances that kill existing cancer cells.
The active ingredient digoxin originally comes from the foxglove plant (Digitalis sp.) and is usually used for heart conditions such as heart failure. The ETH researchers discovered in 2019 that digoxin could also be effective in the context of breast cancer. They carried out an extensive screening in which they systematically tested more than 2,400 different substances in cell cultures to find active agents against clusters of circulating tumour cells (CTCs).
In the next step, the researchers want to develop new molecules based on digoxin that are even better at dissolving the CTC clusters. The ETH spin-off, Page Therapeutics is already working on this solution.
Aceto also wants to expand his research to other types of cancer that spread, such as prostate, colorectal or pancreatic cancer, as well as melanoma. Initial experiments in his laboratory have already begun.
The study is a prime example of outstanding cooperation between ETH Zurich and various hospitals, including the University Hospitals of Basel and Zurich and the Basel-Land Cantonal Hospital. The hospital partners recruited the patients and conducted the clinical trials.
Kurzeder, C., Nguyen-Sträuli, B.D., Krol, I. et al. Digoxin for reduction of circulating tumor cell cluster size in metastatic breast cancer: a proof-of-concept trial. Nat Med (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03486-6
Three patients developed occlusive retinal vasculitis following rechallenge with faricimab (Vabysmo) after initially developing mild intraocular inflammation for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) or diabetic macular edema, according to a retrospective case series.
At a single academic tertiary referral center, mild intraocular inflammation developed in four eyes following intravitreal faricimab injections, and occlusive retinal vasculitis developed in three eyes with repeated challenge, which led to irreversible vision loss, despite treatment with topical and systemic steroids, reported Christopher D. Conrady, MD, PhD, of Truhlsen Eye Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and colleagues.
In the eye that did not develop occlusive retinal vasculitis following rechallenge, there have been no other adverse events despite restarting the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin-2 inhibitor, they noted in JAMA Ophthalmology.
"In cases where inflammation develops from any anti-VEGF medication, we would recommend not rechallenging the patient with the same drug," Conrady told MedPage Today. "While it may be okay in some patients, the risk of really bad complications -- blindness -- is real."
Faricimab, a humanized, bispecific, immunoglobulin G monoclonal antibody, received FDA approval as an intravitreal injection for the treatment of nAMD and diabetic macular edema in 2022, and macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion in 2023.
"We know that faricimab works well in nAMD and macular edema, and that it is safe according to large real-world studies," Conrady said. "The question that was still relatively unclear was whether patients that had a prior minor inflammatory reaction to the drug should be re-treated with the drug."
The new report is the latest in a series that have reported rare but serious adverse events in patients taking faricimab. In October 2024, a Swiss team reported on two eyes that developed retinal vasculitis following noninfectious intraocular inflammation that developed after faricimab treatment. One eye had irreversible vision damage. This year, a French team reported on six eyes with nAMD that were switched to faricimab and developed severe intraocular inflammation.
Ghazala O'Keefe, MD, of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told MedPage Today that "the [new] report is intriguing because it focuses on patients who had an initial mild level of inflammation after an injection and then developed worsening inflammation and vision loss. It gives us some insight into a process we have seen with the newer anti-VEGF injections that can have severe visual consequences."
It's not known why some patients are having this reaction, she said. "We have seen it with other medications like brolucizumab [Beovu], but I wouldn't say we have a clear picture yet."
For now, she added, clinicians can use the report to guide their discussions with patients about worst-case scenarios. "The reports about adverse effects from faricimab are few and far between, but they emphasize the need to have that conversation with the patient."
In this case series, Conrady and colleagues reported on three patients treated at the University of Nebraska Medical Center from October 2023 to August 2024: an 89-year-old woman who was switched to faricimab in both eyes after unsuccessful treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin) for nAMD; an 86-year-old woman who was treated with faricimab for nAMD in her right eye; and a 63-year-old man who was being treated with aflibercept (Eylea) for diabetic macular edema but developed presumed herpes simplex virus keratitis in his right eye.
After the second treatment with faricimab for the 89-year-old woman, her left eye developed intraocular inflammation, which has been reported to occur in 0.2% to 0.6% of patients treated with faricimab. She was treated with steroids and stopped faricimab. Upon restarting the therapy, she received four injections. While inflammation resolved, her vision in her left eye declined.
The 86-year-old woman developed inflammation with keratic precipitates 4 weeks after her third treatment with faricimab. Inflammation resolved after steroid treatment, and she received a fourth treatment. She then developed eye pain and her visual acuity declined. Four months after her last faricimab treatment, she noted a subjective improvement in pain and vision.
The 63-year-old man was treated with valacyclovir (Valtrex) and topical steroids for his presumed herpes simplex virus keratitis. A month later, he began faricimab therapy in both eyes. Steroids resolved redness and a mild anterior chamber reaction. He later noted worsening vision and pain in both eyes. He was prescribed maximum medical therapy for ocular hypertension, a topical and oral steroid taper, and continued valacyclovir. At 1 month, visual acuity was unchanged in the right eye and mildly improved in the left eye with normal intraocular pressure.
"We were surprised that the patients did so poorly with rechallenge of the drug after documented prior inflammatory response to it," Conrady said. "We think that this is likely an inflammatory reaction similar to that seen with a vaccine. You induce immunity to whatever it is with the vaccine, and then with subsequent challenge, the immune system recognizes the pathogen and responds more vigorously."
"This is likely not faricimab-specific but should be considered with all intravitreal injections that are antibodies currently in use within the ophthalmic community," he added. Still, "it is safe to say that the drug is as safe as many other drugs on the market that we use for nAMD. Mild or even severe ocular complications can occur with any of them."
Disclosures
Conrady reported support from the NIH/National Eye Institute, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
A co-author reported serving as a consultant for Genentech, Adverum, Alcon, Apellis, and Bausch + Lomb.
O'Keefe had no disclosures.
Primary Source
JAMA Ophthalmology
Source Reference: Bruening W, et al "Inflammation and occlusive retinal vasculitis post faricimab" JAMA Ophthalmol 2025; DOI: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2024.5889.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/ophthalmology/generalophthalmology/113921
Biogen's treatment for neurodegenerative disorder spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) Spinraza has come under pressure in an increasingly competitive market, but the company hopes a new high-dose formulation could help defend the brand.
The company confirmed today that regulators in the US and Europe have started reviews of a new regimen based on two 50mg doses of Spinraza (nusinersen) given 14 days apart, followed by a higher maintenance dose of 28mg every four months.
The regimen delivers more drug in the first administration than the entire two-month loading phase of the approved Spinraza 12mg regimen, which involves four loading doses.
According to a head-to-head trial called DEVOTE, which underpins the applications, the high-dose slowed neurodegeneration faster at day 64 than the current regimen based on measurements of the neurofilament light chain biomarker.
Moreover, part B of DEVOTE, which enrolled a group of patients who had infantile-onset SMA, met the primary endpoint of change from baseline to six months in the CHOP INTEND scale – which measures motor skills in SMA – compared to an untreated control arm.
That represented a "clinically and statistically significant improvement" over Spinraza 12mg without adding to the side-effect burden, according to Biogen, which has also pointed to trends in the data toward reduced risk of death or permanent need for ventilation.
Spinraza remains a big product for Biogen, but has seen its sales go into reverse as competition in SMA treatment has emerged from Evrysdi (risdiplam), which was approved by the FDA in 2020 and can be delivered orally, as well as Novartis' blockbuster gene therapy Zolgensma, which got a green light in 2019.
Biogen made $1.15 billion from Spinraza in the first nine months of 2024, down nearly 14% on the same period of 2023. For comparison, Evrysdi grew more than 20% to CHF 1.25 billion ($1.38 billion) in the nine months, while Zolgensma rose 4% to $952 million, with additional growth for the latter expected from a recently approved route of administration that will make younger patients eligible for the one-shot treatment.
"Continued progress to improve upon the remarkable initial successes in SMA necessitates an innovative approach," said Thomas Crawford, co-director of the Muscular Dystrophy Association Clinic at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
He added that the new Biogen filing "is a significant step forward for the community."
SMA is a type of motor neuron disease that destroys motor neurons – the muscle-controlling nerve cells – and can be fatal. It affects approximately 1 in 10,000 babies and when untreated is the leading genetic cause of infant mortality.
https://pharmaphorum.com/news/useu-regulators-start-review-biogens-high-dose-spinraza
Shares in Novo Nordisk were up nearly 12% today – hiking its valuation to more than $280 billion – after it reported new clinical data with one of its obesity drug candidates.
The new results with a once-weekly subcutaneous injection of amycretin – which is also being developed in a daily oral formulation – show that the combined GLP-1 and amylin agonist achieved up to 22% weight loss at 36 weeks.
The phase 1b/2a trial in 125 people with obesity or overweight combined single ascending dose, multiple ascending dose, and dose-response assessments and looked at three different doses of amycretin; namely, 1.25mg, 5mg, and 20mg.
It also showed that the drug was well tolerated, with side effects mainly gastrointestinal complaints like nausea and diarrhoea that are typical of this type of incretin-based therapy, according to the company, which said most were mild to moderate in severity.
The results are a boost to Novo Nordisk after another weight-loss therapy, CagriSema (cagrilintide and semaglutide), delivered lower-than-hoped-for weight loss of 20.4% at 68 weeks in a phase 3 obesity trial reported in December.
Novo Nordisk is currently leading the market for incretin therapies with semaglutide-based products Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for obesity, but is coming under competitive pressure from rival therapies from Eli Lilly based on dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist tirzepatide.
Lilly's obesity therapy recently outperformed Wegovy in a head-to-head weight loss study, while CagriSema's top-line efficacy was in the same ballpark as Zepbound in the phase 3 readout.
The new study showed that subcutaneous amycretin achieved a 9.7% reduction from an average starting body weight of just under 93kg at 20 weeks, rising to 16.2% with 5mg at 28 weeks, and 22% at 20mg at the 28-week timepoint.
For comparison, people treated with placebo experienced an estimated 1.9%, 2.3%, and 2.0% body weight gain, respectively.
Novo Nordisk's head of development said he was "very encouraged" by the new data, saying it supports "the weight-lowering potential of this novel unimolecular GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist […] that we have previously seen with the oral formulation."
Last year, oral amycretin was shown in a phase 1 trial to achieve approximately 10% weight loss at a daily dose of 50mg at 12 weeks, with patients taking 100mg per day seeing a 13% reduction.
Novo Nordisk said it is now planning to advance both subcutaneous and oral formulations of amycretin into additional clinical trials. The new data follows another study that showed the effectiveness of Wegovy could be stepped up by raising the weekly dose of the drug.
The size of the company's share price increase today could also reflect a bounceback from a fall-off in the stock's value last week, after the revelation that Wegovy, Ozempic, and another semaglutide-based diabetes therapy called Rybelsus have been included on the list of the next 15 drugs to be subject to Medicare pricing negotiations.
https://pharmaphorum.com/news/novo-nordisk-leaps-new-obesity-drug-data
By Bas van Geffen, Senior Macro Strategist at Rabobank
Davos got hard Trump treatment yesterday. He demanded that Saudi Arabia and OPEC lower oil prices to end the Ukraine war, and a rounded up $1 trillion in Saudi investments into the US despite those lower prices. Will Trump offer a US nuclear power and defence deal, and/or dealing with Iran, as quid pro quo?
But Trump may have another motive to encourage OPEC to lower the cost of oil: “When oil prices come down, everything is going to be cheaper for the American people.” Shortly after his demand for lower oil prices, Trump turned to the Fed, demanding that rate cuts should follow immediately after oil. And interest rates should come down “a lot.” The dollar will probably not like that: even though Trump demanded that other central banks follow suit, he has less traction over them.
The US president is certainly trying, though. Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order on digital financial technology. The decree primarily promotes private –and dollar-based– initiatives, but it also contains some sweeping actions against the efforts to develop central bank digital currencies, and not just in the US: “(v) including by prohibiting the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use of a CBDC within the jurisdiction of the United States.”
While this executive order technically does not seem to ban the offshore use of CBDC by US banks or multinationals (but I am not a lawyer!), I would certainly not want to be the one trying this first. That’s of course an attempt to stop the BRICS’ initiative to substitute central bank digital currencies for US dollars in their international trade.
Trump also had a message for global manufacturers: “Come make your product in the US, and we’ll give you among the lowest tax rates in any nation. But if you don’t – which is your prerogative – you will simply have to pay a tariff” that puts money in our Treasury.
However, markets were mostly in ebullient mood, ignoring everything Trump said to focus on one partial quote: “I’d rather not tariff China.” Just like he would rather not tariff Russia but says he will if they won’t come to the peace table. All Trump is saying is “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” The market is either calling the US president’s bluff, or only ever understands the easy way.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan defied Trump’s call for lower interest rates, and hiked its policy rates by 25bp. Arguably, Japan is still Trump’s low-rates utopia, with the policy rate now at just 0.5%. That said, Japanese policymakers are more constructive on the inflation outlook: the Bank of Japan now sees CPI inflation of around 2.5% for FY2025. Governor Ueda recently also noted that real interest rates had become more negative, and today the Bank stated that they were expected to remain significantly negative. So, financial conditions are still accommodative, and this will continue to firmly support economic activity. The Bank of Japan concludes that if the forecasts presented in the January Outlook report materialise, policymakers will continue to raise policy rates and adjust the degree of monetary accommodation accordingly.
