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Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Astronauts stuck on space station as Biden didn’t want to risk rescue before election: ex-NASA spaceman

The two American astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station for nine months may have been stuck there because of the presidential election, one of their fellow spacemen thinks.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams are high and dry in space possibly because President Joe Biden wasn’t willing to risk a rescue going wrong after their initial ride home on a Boeing craft was deemed unsafe, according to Clayton “Astroclay” Anderson, a former astronaut.

“Elon [Musk] said it was politically motivated; I think there’s some truth in that,” Anderson, who also did time on the International Space Station, told The Post.

“He offered to bring them home earlier. It came about right before the election,” he added, referring to Musk saying he’d rescue the pair with one of his SpaceX rockets.

“My opinion is that they didn’t want a disaster right before an election that they were trying to win and therefore asked the astronauts to sacrifice and stay in orbit.”

Musk posted on X on Feb. 20: “SpaceX could have brought them back several months ago. I OFFERED THIS DIRECTLY to the Biden administration and they refused.

“Return WAS pushed back for political reasons.”

Musk had thrown his support behind then-candidate Donald Trump in July 2024, less than a month after Wilmore and Williams initially became stranded. It is unclear when he reached out to Biden with his offer to rescue the astronauts.

During a press conference last week, from the International Space Station, Wilmore — who, alongside Williams, was only supposed to be in space for 10 days — backed up the allegations, saying: “I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says, is absolutely factual.”

Wilmore’s teenage daughter, Daryn, also said “there’s been negligence” that has led to her father being stranded above the Earth.

She lamented in a TikTok, “It’s less the fact that he’s up there sometimes; it’s more the fact of why. There’s a lot of politics, there’s a lot of things that I’m not at liberty to say in that I don’t know fully about,” adding that she gets to talk to her dad almost daily.

Anderson said the reason why SpaceX and Boeing both have space contracts is so NASA has options when something does go wrong. “The original reason why SpaceX and Boeing were contracted was to give NASA redundancy. We got into a perfect situation where redundancy could be utilized and it wasn’t.”

While Anderson explained that politics should have no place in space travel, he acknowledged that “we’re professionals. We’re willing to stay and bite the bullet for NASA. That’s the expectation. Astronauts know that any space flight can be extended or shortened within a moment’s notice for any reason.”

But that doesn’t mean they have to like it. “If it were me and I had to stay longer like that, I would be very angry,” said Anderson, author of “The Ordinary Spaceman,” who has spent a total of 167 days in space, pointing out that sympathy does not always come from where you would expect it.

“The prevailing attitude of people on the ground is just tolerate [the situation]. ‘They’re in space; they’re superheroes; they get to see the Earth. They’ll get over it.’”

Wilmore and Williams are currently on the Space Station with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, but will soon be back on Earth with their loved ones, traveling aboard a SpaceX four-seater.

That craft brought the other two astronauts into space in September and has been docked at the ISS since then, according to USA Today.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/11/us-news/us-astronauts-stuck-because-biden-wouldnt-risk-disaster-ex-spaceman/

Columbia ‘refusing to help DHS’ identify ‘pro-Hamas’ protesters for deportation: White House

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that Columbia University is “refusing to help” federal officials identify “pro-Hamas” protesters for potential deportation after former student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested Saturday.

“Columbia University has been given the names of other individuals who have engaged in pro-Hamas activity, and they are refusing to help DHS identify those individuals on campus,” Leavitt said at her regular briefing.

The Trump administration is moving to deport foreign citizens who engaged in anti-Israel activities pursuant to an order issued by President Trump in January.

Columbia University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://nypost.com/2025/03/11/us-news/columbia-university-refusing-to-help-id-anti-israel-protesters-for-deportationwhite-house/

NHS England facing major job losses to reduce DHSC 'overlap'

The shake-up of NHS England looks like it could go up a notch, as reports emerge of thousands of job cuts to avoid "duplication" of roles within the Department of Health and Social Care.

It has been reported that around 6,500 jobs could be on the line, which would be equivalent to around half of NHS England's workforce, with an objective of saving £175 million a year. Some of the job losses are expected to be within the DHSC.

"As part of the need to make best possible use of taxpayers' money to support frontline services, the size of NHS England will be radically reduced," said NHS England in a statement, as the departure of three top board members was also announced.

Chief financial officer Julian Kelly, NHS chief operating officer Emily Lawson, and chief delivery officer Steve Russell, who also serves as national director for vaccination and screening, will leave their roles in the coming weeks.

They are following in the footsteps of NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard and medical director Sir Stephen Powis, who have also handed in their resignations as the government prepares to unveil its 10-year plan to reform and revitalise the health service later this year.

Pritchard's successor Sir James Mackey, who will take over as CEO at the start of April, will set up a transition team within NHS England "to lead the radical reduction and reshaping of the centre," which was established in 2013 under the previous Conservative government to handle the budget and day-to-day running of the commissioning side of the health service in England.

It was also confirmed last week that Dr Penny Dash has been appointed as the new NHS England chair. She is currently the chair of the NHS North West London Integrated Care Board and is leading a major review into the regulation of health and social care quality in England.

"We are entering a period of critical transformation for our NHS," said DHSC Secretary Wes Streeting. "With a stronger relationship between the Department…and NHS England, we will work together with the speed and urgency needed to meet the scale of the challenge."

In an internal email sent to NHS England staff and seen by the BBC, Pritchard said that the news of the job cuts would be "unsettling" but that the time had come for "radical reform of the size and functions" of the centre.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation membership body, said that the changes are happening "at a scale and pace not anticipated to begin with, but given the huge savings that the NHS needs to make this year, it makes sense to reduce areas of duplication at a national level and for the NHS to be led by a leaner centre."

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/nhs-england-facing-major-job-losses-reduce-dhsc-overlap

Viking Secures 1B Supply of Obesity Pill Candidate With $150M Prepayment Deal

Analysts acknowledged the long-term manufacturing deal could dull Viking’s takeout prospects but hailed it as a smart move to ensure supply.

Viking Therapeutics is putting $150 million down to secure future supply of “multiple metric tons” of its investigational obesity medication VK2735. The deal will set up an annual capacity of more than 1 billion pills, 100 million autoinjectors and 100 million vial and syringe products.

William Blair analysts are “enthusiastic” about the manufacturing deal, which was signed with contract development and manufacturing organization CordenPharma. The analysts said in an investor note Tuesday that the pre-payment plan protects Viking from future supply chain risk “which had been an overhang on the stock.”

Viking will make $150 million in prepayments over three years, which will be applied to future orders. Corden will provide dedicated capacity to manufacture “multiple metric tons” of VK2735 annually, according to Viking’s Tuesday morning press release. The deal includes injectable and oral formulations of the medicine, both of which are being tested in clinical trials right now. The companies have long worked together, according to Viking CEO Brian Lian.

The biotech has risen to prominence as one of the leading smaller companies tackling obesity, behind market leaders Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Analysts and investors have long speculated that Viking is a top takeout target. Wiliam Blair acknowledged that this long-term deal with Corden may disappoint some hoping for that high-profile exit.

Indeed, Viking’s shares declined 10% as the markets opened Tuesday to $25.16, representing a low point for the stock, which began the year around $40 apiece.

“We acknowledge that investors could view the deal as a negative development with respect to Viking’s takeout prospects; however, we do not share this view. Given the importance of procuring API and the associated devices and accessories, we argue it would be imprudent to delay such discussions even if Viking was theoretically in late-stage discussions with an acquirer,” William Blair wrote.

The analysts also took a shot at quantifying the possible sales that could result from the Corden deal. The injectable portion amounts to about 3.8 million patient doses a year, while the 1 billion tablets equal about 2.7 million patient doses, for a total of 6.5 million doses. Using pricing similar to what Lilly has offered through its LillyDirect program for Zepbound—about $500 per month or $6,000 per year—William Blair predicted that Viking has set itself up for about $39 billion in revenue.

Zepbound brought in $4.9 billion in 2024, while Novo’s Wegovy clocked about $8.5 billion. The latter had generated 200,000 prescriptions as of the end of the year.

“Taken together, we are bullish on the deal and believe it removes one of the major uncertainties, based on our discussion with investors,” William Blair said of the Viking manufacturing deal.

Viking is testing two formulations of VK2735. The Phase II VENTURE trial is currently underway testing the oral version dosed twice daily for 13 weeks. The biotech is also working on kick starting a Phase III test of the subcutaneous formulation in the second quarter of 2025.

In an earlier Phase I trial, the pill version of VK2735 achieved 8.2% weight loss after just 28 days, exceeding analyst expectations.

https://www.biospace.com/business/viking-secures-1b-supply-of-obesity-pill-candidate-with-150m-prepayment-deal

Roche Absorbs $2.4B Impairment in Overhaul of Spark Gene Therapy Unit

Roche acquired Spark Therapeutics in 2019 for $4.8 billion.

Roche is currently enacting a “fundamental reorganisation” of its gene therapy subsidiary Spark Therapeutics amid broader shifts in its pharmaceuticals business.

The move, first revealed in the company’s financial report published in January 2025, comes after a strategic review of Spark’s prospects in the second half of 2024. Roche at the time was simultaneously implementing “restructuring activities” at Spark, which cost the company about $185 million last year.

Roche has yet to settle on the specifics of the reorganization initiative, though it will involve the integration of some of Spark’s operations into the group’s broader Pharmaceuticals Division, as per the financial report. Roche’s preliminary estimate puts its restructuring costs at around $341 million.

In connection with Spark’s overhaul, Roche will incur approximately $2.4 billion in goodwill impairment costs. This sum takes into consideration the $4.8 billion it paid to acquire the gene therapy specialist in 2019, as well as the current and future revenues and costs associated with the unit.

“There was no surplus from the estimated future revenues of the Spark Therapeutics business to support the carrying value of the goodwill,” Roche wrote in its financial report, “neither were there any significant future synergistic benefits to other products within the Pharmaceuticals Division.”

Roche’s decision to acquire Spark in 2019 rested heavily on two assets: the FDA-approved gene therapy Luxturna, indicated for a rare and heritable form of blindness, and the investigational SPK-8011, a one-time treatment for hemophilia A. At the time, SPK-8011 had just elicited a 97% response rate in patients with the bleeding disorder, giving Spark the push it needed to take the asset into late-stage studies.

In December 2024, however, Roche shelved SPK-8011, as per an update to its federal clinical trials page that tags the Phase III trial of the asset as “withdrawn.” In a statement to Fierce Biotech at the time, a Roche spokesperson said that the decision to discontinue the SPK-8011 study is connected to a newer investigational therapy with an “enhanced function FVIII variant.”

Roche also previously axed the Spark assets SPK-8016 for hemophilia A and SPK-3006 for Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition that damages muscles and nerves. Spark is also conducting research into eye, liver and neurodegenerative diseases, according to its pipeline.

Luxturna has similarly been disappointing. In 2024, the gene therapy brought in just under $20.5 million, representing a 59% year-on-year decline in sales.

Elsewhere in its gene therapy efforts, Roche in October 2024 put $1 billion on the line—on top of a $50 million upfront payment—in a back-heavy deal with Dyno Therapeutics to develop next-generation gene therapies for neurological indications.

https://www.biospace.com/business/roche-absorbs-2-4b-impairment-in-overhaul-of-spark-gene-therapy-unit

Stocks Jump As Ontario Folds, Suspends Electricity Surcharge After Talk With White House

Update (1445ET): After earlier responding to President Trump's threats with more sound and fury:

“I want to send more electricity” to the US, Ford said during an interview with CNBC, but cutting off power exports remains “a tool in our toolkit.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford just folded like a broken deckchair and agreed to suspend its surcharge of 25% on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says in a post on X.

Today, United States Secretary of Commerce and Premier of Ontario Doug Ford had a productive conversation about the economic relationship between the United States and Canada.
Secretary Lutnick agreed to officially meet with Premier Ford in Washington on Thursday, March 13 alongside the United States Trade Representative to discuss a renewed USMCA ahead of the April 2 reciprocal tariff deadline.
In response, Ontario agreed to suspend its 25 per cent surcharge on exports of electricity to Michigan, New York and Minnesota.

As a reminder, this was not earth-shattering as Minnesota and Michigan imported about 1% of its power from Canada in 2024, and less than half of that came from Ontario, according to the region’s grid operator, Midcontinent Independent System Operator. New York imported about 4.4% of its total electricity from the country in 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations.

The response in market was immediate with stocks ramping to the highs of the day...

* * *

Just when you thought it was safe to dip your toe back in the growth-challenged markets, President Trump took to Truth Social and unleashed a retaliatory strike against Canada (more specifcally Ontario) for its ongoing tariffs (and electricity price hike)... (emphasis ours)

Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on “Electricity” coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th.
Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous. I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada.
If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada.
Those cars can easily be made in the USA!

The result is that the Canadian dollar dumped...

And US stocks gave up some their early gains.

It's different this time.. for now...

Trump then diverted back to his previous comments on making Canada America's 51st State:

Also, Canada pays very little for National Security, relying on the United States for military protection.
We are subsidizing Canada to the tune of more than 200 Billion Dollars a year. WHY??? This cannot continue.
The only thing that makes sense is for Canada to become our cherished Fifty First State.
This would make all Tariffs, and everything else, totally disappear.
Canadians taxes will be very substantially reduced, they will be more secure, militarily and otherwise, than ever before, there would no longer be a Northern Border problem, and the greatest and most powerful nation in the World will be bigger, better and stronger than ever — And Canada will be a big part of that.
The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World — And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/loonie-tumbles-trump-retaliates-against-ontarios-electricity-tariff

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